BACKGROUND Smoking is one of the major modifiable risk factors for non-communicable diseases. Our aim was to report the pattern of active and passive smoking using the data collected through a population-base household survey in Kerman, Iran [(KERCADRS) Kerman Coronary Artery Disease Risk Factors Study]. METHODS Using a cluster random sampling design, we recruited 5900 adult persons (15-75 ye...

Passive smoking, also known as involuntary smoking , second hand smoking or exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is defined as inhalation of the cigarette smoke of another individual or the exhale of a smoker (1). Passive smoking can adversely affect the health of non-smokers of all age groups (1). The association of passive smoking with life threatening conditions such as lung cancer...

BACKGROUND The recently described interaction between smoking, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DRB1*15 and absence of HLA-A*02 with regard to multiple sclerosis (MS) risk shows that the risk conveyed by smoking differs depending on genetic background. We aimed to investigate whether a similar interaction exists between passive smoking and HLA genotype. METHODS We used one case-control study wit...

Tobacco smoking is inconsistently associated with breast cancer. Although some studies suggest that breast cancer risk is related to passive smoking, little is known about the association with breast cancer by tumor hormone receptor status. We aimed to explore the association between lifetime passive smoking and risk of breast cancer subtypes defined by estrogen receptor and progesterone recept...

Previous studies suggested that smoking and passive smoking could increase the risk of breast cancer, but the results were inconsistent, especially for Chinese females. Thus, we systematically searched cohort and case-control studies investigating the associations of active and passive smoking with breast cancer risk among Chinese females in four English databases (PubMed, Embase, ScienceDirect...

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to measure the correlates, including normative beliefs, associated with waterpipe (WP) and cigarette smoking prevalence and dependence. SETTING A cross-sectional study was carried out using a proportionate cluster sample of Lebanese students in 17 public and private universities. PARTICIPANTS Of the 4900 distributed questionnaires, 3384 (69.1%) wer...

OBJECTIVES Waterpipe smoking is highly prevalent among university students, and has been increasing in popularity despite mounting evidence showing it is harmful to health. The aim of this study was to measure preferences for waterpipe smoking and determine which product characteristics are most important to smokers. SETTING A large university in the Southeastern USA. PARTICIPANTS Adult wat...

Smoking during pregnancy is harmful to both the foetus and the woman herself. However, in spite of educational efforts, a substantial proportion of pregnant women continue to smoke and many women who do stop smoking during pregnancy resume smoking following childbirth. To foster successful maternal smoking cessation, public health professionals need to focus on the major determinants of smoking...

BACKGROUND Hookah smoking has increased worldwide especially among youth and young adults and has been identified as an emerging threat to public health. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of hookah use and related factors in a sample of Iranian college students. METHODS This study took place in Tabriz (northwest of Iran) in April and May 2011. The randomly selected ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of passive smoking, active smoking and smoking cessation on inflammation, lipid profile and the risk of myocardial infarction (MI). METHODS A total of 423 cases with a first MI and 465 population controls from the Maltese Acute Myocardial Infarction (MAMI) Study were analysed. Data were collected through an interviewer-led questionnaire, and morning fasting...