Easy test detects if a person smokes

CHICAGO, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Pulse cooximeters, used to identify levels of carbon monoxide in patients and firefighters, can be used to detect if a person smokes, a U.S. study found.

Study author Dr. Sridhar P. Reddy of St. Clair Pulmonary and Critical Care, St. Clair, Mich., said that if smokers knew their blood carbon monoxide levels, they might be more motivated to quit smoking or never start in the first place.

The study originated as a high school science project by Reddy's son, Ashray Reddy, a sophomore at Detroit Country Day School. The doctor measured patients' carboxyhemoglobin, blood poisoned by carbon monoxide, and methhemoglobin, blood transformed by other substances, such as nitrogen dioxide, with a pulse cooximeter. The son developed and distributed questionnaires regarding the patients' smoking status.

A total of 476 patients participated and patients were identified as a smoker based on a combination of their questionnaire responses and if their carbon monoxide levels exceeded 6 percent of their blood. The study identified 98 patients as smokers, 72 were exposed to secondhand smoke and 306 were non-smokers.

The findings were presented at Chest 2007, the 73rd annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians in Chicago.