http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/ en-us Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:52:47 GMT Silverchair editor@archinte.jamanetwork.com webmaster@archinte.jamanetwork.com http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=415566 Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT Benowitz NL. <span class="paragraphSection">Secondhand smoke is a major cause of disease, including lung cancer and coronary heart disease in adults and lower respiratory illness, middle ear disease, and asthma in children. Because the prevalence of smoking is much higher in men than in women, secondhand smoke disproportionately harms women. The scope of harm to women caused by secondhand smoke is both illustrated and widened by this study by Leung and coworkers. The investigators studied never-smoking married women in China, a country where 60% of men smoke compared with only 4% of women. They found that women who were exposed to secondhand smoke in the home were significantly more likely to develop tuberculosis (TB) than women who were not exposed.</span> 170 3 292 293 10.1001/archinternmed.2009.501 http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=415566 http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=774277 Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT Leung CC, Lam TH, Ho KS, et al. <span class="paragraphSection"><div class="boxTitle">Background</div>Increasing evidence has incriminated active smoking as a causal factor for tuberculosis (TB). However, the effect of secondhand tobacco smoke exposure on TB has not been similarly elucidated.<div class="boxTitle">Methods</div>A cohort of 15 486 female never-smokers aged 65 to 74 years and living with their surviving husband were enrolled at 18 Elderly Health Centers in Hong Kong from 2000 to 2003 and followed up prospectively through linkage with the territory-wide TB notification registry and death registry for TB and death until December 31, 2008, using an identity card number as a unique identifier. The relationship between passive smoking and the development of TB was assessed with adjustment for other baseline characteristics.<div class="boxTitle">Results</div>Passive exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke in the household was independently associated with obstructive lung disease (odds [OR], 1.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16-1.77) and diabetes mellitus (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.02-1.26) at baseline and with the development of both active TB (hazard ratio [HR], 1.49; 95% CI, 1.01-2.19) and culture-confirmed TB (HR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.04-2.80) on prospective follow-up after potentially confounding background variables were controlled for. Passive smoking accounted for 13.7% of active TB and for 18.5% of culture-positive TB in this cohort.<div class="boxTitle">Conclusions</div>Similar to active smoking, passive exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke in the household also predisposes to the development of TB. Increased emphasis should therefore be put on tobacco control in national TB programs.</span> 170 3 287 292 10.1001/archinternmed.2009.506 http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=774277