10% Of cases of sudden infant death is related to passive smoking

– when the father or the mother are smokers, the risk of sudden infant death is multiplied, and may even be up to eight times more frequent when the father or the mother smoke in the room

– in childrenthe affectation of the tobacco smoke is essentially respiratory and into adulthood, triggers, in addition, many types of cancer and cardiovascular problems

– still, passive smoking of children is one of the main factors of the risk of future cardiovascular ailment

-the World Health Organization (who) estimates that about 40% of the minor está regularly exposed to second-hand smoke at home. Although the new anti-smoking law protects children in public places, health it is unprotected home

-the children of smoking parents are twice as likely to end up being smokers

Madrid, 2011-August in the summer months, although the time outdoors is higherIt is also the time of coexistence between parents and children. In this sense, the Spanish Heart Foundation (CHF) wants to warn about the special care that must have parents smoking with their children, so they do not see affected his health due to inhalation of tobacco smoke.

Tobacco smoke already affects very negatively on the respiratory and cardiovascular health from an early age. Even in a pregnant woman and smoker can produce preterm birth and increases the risk of having a newborn child of low birth weight.

Also tobacco inhaled passively by infants is related to sudden infant death syndrome, to the extent that it is estimated that 10% of cases of sudden infant death are related to passive smoking. In this sense, according to Dr. Jaime Fernández of Bobadilla, Coordinator of the tobacco working group of the section of preventive cardiology and rehabilitation of the Spanish Cardiology Society (SEC) and cardiologist of the La Paz Hospital in Madrid, when the father or the mother are smokers, times the risk of sudden infant death, even to be up to eight times more frequent when the father or the mother smoke in the room of the baby ”.

In general, in children, the allocation of tobacco is essentially respiratory (increased risk of asthma, bronchitis, bronchiolitis, or increase in the incidence of pneumonia, among other diseases), while adult cardiovascular health is also seriously injured and tobacco is related to the emergence of many types of cancer.

Even so, multiple studies show that children exposed to cigarette smoke have higher risk of cardiovascular disease in the future. In fact, among young people, which would generally have a cardiovascular risk very low, smoking is the cause of 75% of cases of cardiovascular disease at an early age.

Of passive smoking to smoking: the impact of nicotine and the role model

The main problem between the minor is that become passive smokers from very small, i.e. involuntarily inhale the smoke of tobacco consumed by people who smoke. According to experts, 15% of the smoke from a cigarette is inhaled by the smoker and the remaining or secondary smoke, mixture of residual smoke comes from burning tobacco and smoke exhaled by the smoker, is dispersed in the atmosphere and can be inhaled by others, who become passive smokers.

This secondary smoke of tobacco is classified by the environmental protection agency medium as a carcinogenic substance of type A, along with arsenic and benzene, among others. Nicotine is the principal active agent of tobacco smoke, but other compounds such as tar and carbon monoxide are also damaging for the heart and health in general.

Among other consequences, the cigarette smoke chemicals contribute to the buildup of fatty plaque in the arteries, that affect cholesterol levels and a blood coagulant, so increases the risk of heart attack.

The World Health Organization (who) estimated that about 40% of children are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke at home and a study published in the Lancet suggests that passive smoking causes 165,000 thousand deaths a year in children.

Despite the adoption of the new anti-smoking law (42/2010, December 30, 2010), they are families smokers which have to be aware of the damage caused in children’s health and a smoke-free environment is the only truly effective protection. According to Dr. Jaime Fernández de Bobadilla, the new anti-smoking law has been an important step for the protection of minors, as the ban on smoking in public places has dramatically shifted the likelihood that children breathe the toxic smoke. On the other hand, the child’s health still unprotected at home, so it is essential that parents become aware of the damage posed by the smoke of tobacco for their children ”.

In this sense, Fernández de Bobadilla recommends that, if parents are not decided to quit in order to prevent their children to sniff the toxic smoke, avoid smoking in the home or do as much so in the terrace or the drying rack, and that, in general, avoid the children to see them smoking, that parents are the main role model for children ”.

In this line, it should be noted that the children of smoking parents are twice as likely to end up being also smokers, due mainly to two causes: addiction that are acquiring the nicotine and the incidence of the pattern of behaviour of its parent.

The SEC and the FEC

The Spanish Cardiology Society (SEC) and the Spanish Heart Foundation (CHF) is an organization whose vital impetus is to ensure the cardiovascular health of the population through clinical and research, as well as informative and educational excellence. Both entities have become the benchmark in Spanish of the fight against cardiovascular disease, leading cause of death in our country

The SEC has more than 4,000 partners among cardiologists and professionals related to cardiovascular diseases, from European, Latin American and international Spanish.

The FEC has over 4,000 members, including the SEC cardiologists, professional nursing in cardiology, associations of patients, private entities and private partners.