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Married smokers put partners at risk of stroke

30 July 2008

We urge people to consider the effects that smoking has on their health and others around them, and do all they can to reduce their risk of stroke

Joe Korner, Director of Communications from The Stroke Association

Key facts
  • Every year in the UK, over 150,000 people have a stroke - it's the third most common cause of death.
  • A stroke happens when the blood supply to the brain is cut off. Without blood, parts of the brain are starved of oxygen and nutrients. This damages brain cells and they begin to die.
  • The Stroke Association advise that you use the FAST checklist to recognise if someone is having a stroke - Facial weakness, Arm weakness, Speech problems, Test all three. If you notice any of these symptoms, call an ambulance straight away.
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People married to smokers are at a much higher risk of having a stroke than those married to non-smokers, scientists have discovered.

It's well known that passive smoking is a cause of coronary heart disease, but until now, it's been unclear whether it's also a cause of stroke. To investigate this, researchers followed the health of more than 16,000 people and their spouses aged 50 and over for a nine-year period.

The results were startling, finding that non-smokers married to smokers were 42 percent more likely to have a stroke than those with non-smoking spouses. For ex-smokers married to smokers, their risk of stroke increased by 72 percent.

Lead researcher, M. Maria Glymour, believes that this research highlights the grave dangers passive smoking poses to the health of non-smoking partners. She goes on to stress the advantages of quitting smoking for married couples: "The health benefits of quitting smoking are likely to extend beyond individual smokers to affect their spouses, potentially multiplying the benefits of smoking cessation."

Martin Dockrell, Policy and Campaigns Manager at ASH told the Bupa health information team: "The association between smoking and risk of stroke is probably less well known amongst the general public than the risk of lung cancer or heart disease. The more research that is published showing the clear dangers of second-hand smoke, the greater the likelihood that people will modify their smoking behaviour accordingly."

He went on to give this advice: "Protecting loved ones is a strong motivation for people to quit. Smokers who aren't ready to quit can still protect their loved ones by using nicotine replacement therapy to keep the cravings away. Nicotine chewing gum is a much better option than smoking when you're with your family. And you may find that with NRT it's easier to go without smoking than you expected."

Joe Korner, Director of Communications from The Stroke Association, also believes that this is an important piece of research and had this message: "We urge people to consider the effects that smoking has on their health and others around them, and do all they can to reduce their risk of stroke, the UK's third biggest killer."

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