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Abstract

Every year hundreds of thousands of people are killed by heart disease acquired by inhaling other people's smoke. Agonizingly heart attack deaths resulting from passive smoke occur much earlier in life than do the lung cancer deaths caused by such exposure. According to Journal of the American Medical Association Japanese researchers have shown that even short-term passive smoking damages the inner lining of blood vessels, and just 30 minutes exposure to secondhand smoke affects the lining of the heart's coronary arteries and their ability to dilate. In addition, they were able to link these changes to illnesses such as death from heart attack and emphysema. So, if people living in the same home are in habit of smoking would expose others to risk as well unless they would do that out side the premises. There are many for whom a very minor exposure, for a few minutes, even seconds, to secondhand smoke can result in light to severe physical, mental or emotional symptoms -either immediately or even hours or days later Secondhand smoke contains a much higher concentration of toxic and cancer-causing chemicals than the smoke that is inhaled by the smoker. Only one-fourth of the smoke goes into the smoker's body, the rest ends up in the environment. Medical reports confirm that breathing other people's smoke is more than an annoyance; it is a serious health risk. Most of the times exposure to passive smoke, even a small amount, there are only mild symptoms such as nausea, breathing problems or a headache. However, at times these symptoms progress into extreme muscle weakness, disorientation and depression. The toxins in passive smoke are so damaging to the body system that it takes hours and sometimes days or weeks to return to normal. Each reaction causes a loss of recuperative ability, and regaining normal functioning becomes a little more difficult.