Environmental tobacco smoke, second hand smoke, or sidestream smoke, is the smoke emitted into the surrounding air from a burning cigarette between puffs. It is inhaled by both the smoker and the nonsmokers in the room. It actually contains greater amounts of some of these compounds, such as carbon monoxide, which adversely affects the delivery of oxygen to the heart. The amount of exposure is also important. If your spouse smokes twenty or more cigarettes per day, you have a four times greater risk of a heart attack.
Passive smoking is also dangerous outside the home.
The risks from passive smoking at work are approximately the same as those from exposure at home. As in active smoking, passive smoking affects other coronary risk factors such as hypertension, family history of heart attack and diabetes. Whether smoking cigars increases your risk for coronary artery disease is up for debate. Cigar smoking may be less likely to cause coronary artery disease because cigar smokers are less likely to inhale. Cigars may cause other problemssuch as raising the risk of certain circulatory heart ailments.