Environmental tobacco smoke and health in the elderly

Maritta Jaakkola

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    48 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The aims of this article are to synthesize the evidence on health effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in the elderly and to discuss questions for future research. Health effects are divided into aetiological and prognostic studies. There is convincing evidence that ETS causes lung cancer and coronary heart disease, both of which are diseases of the elderly. Several cross-sectional studies show increased occurrence of chronic respiratory symptoms and deficits in ventilatory lung function in relation to ETS exposure at home and/or at work. A limited number of studies have found significant relations between ETS exposure and asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumococcal infections and stroke in the elderly. Longitudinal studies are needed before any definite conclusions can be made concerning ETS and noncarcinogenic respiratory diseases in the elderly. The potential role of environmental tobacco smoke exposure as a prognostic factor determining development of a pre-existing respiratory or heart disease is an important new area for research.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)172-181
    Number of pages10
    JournalThe European respiratory journal
    Volume19
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2002

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