Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Secondhand smoke lung damage detected

|
|
 
  
Published: Nov. 27, 2007 at 9:56 AM
Advertisement

CHICAGO, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. radiologists have, for the first time, identified structural damage to the lungs caused by secondhand cigarette smoke.

The study was conducted at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

"It's long been hypothesized that prolonged exposure to secondhand smoke may cause physical damage to the lungs but previous methods of analyzing lung changes were not sensitive enough to detect it," said Chengbo Wang, magnetic resonance physicist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Wang and colleagues used long-time-scale, global helium-3 diffusion magnetic resonance imaging to study the lungs of 43 volunteers, including seven current and former smokers and 36 people who had never smoked, 18 of whom had a high level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

In helium-3 diffusion MRI the patient inhales a specially prepared helium gas prior to imaging and the scanner is adjusted to collect images showing the helium gas in tissue.

"With this technique, we are able to assess lung structure on a microscopic level," Wang said. "These findings suggest that breathing secondhand smoke can injure your lungs."

The study was presented Monday in Chicago during the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

Recommended Stories
© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The making of the Oscars The Chicago Auto Show 2011: The year in space
Mercedes-Benz fashion week In New York Tu Bishvat Migron settlement The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China
Additional Science News Stories
1 of 21
President Obama Signs Smuggling Prevention Act at White House
View Caption
fark
Nothing is more romantic on Valentine's Day than taking your lover on a tour of New York's sewers...
Man arrested for writing 'bomb' on some toilet paper. "His family says the word 'bomb' is often...
Now that gay marriage is legal in California, the state's Health Department thought it was necessary...
Scientists discover a drug designed to fight cancer reverses Alzheimer's in mice. Still no cure...
Cutting out the middle man ... antiques dealer with late stage cancer hosting her own estate sale...
Customer from grocery store finds hand grenade hidden among potatoes