Smoking linked to early onset of stroke in male workers

Doha, Qatar: Smoking is identified as a main risk factor for South Asian male workers in Qatar. A study has found that stroke occurs two years earlier in them compared to non-smokers.

The study analysed 778 South Asian male workers who have suffered an ischaemic stroke in Qatar, and found that 41.3% of them were current smokers.

‘Cigarette smoking as a risk factor for ischaemic stroke in young South Asian male migrants to Qatar: The BRAINS study,’ published in Qatar Medical Journal aimed to find whether young male South Asian migrants in Qatar were adversely affected by stroke depending on their smoking status.

“In Qatar, young South Asian male migrants who smoke are likely to suffer an ischaemic stroke at least two years earlier than non-smokers. Besides, there were significant clinical characteristic differences (BMI, alcohol consumption, hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes) among South Asian stroke migrants separated by smoking status,” the study has revealed.

Among the participants of the study the prevalence of hypertension was 75.1%; diabetes 46.0%; and hyper-cholesterolemia 40.0%.

The study was authored by Fahmi Yousef Khan, Hassan Al Hai, Musab Ali, Hassan Al Hussein, Hassan Osman Abuzaid, Khalid Sharif and Dirk Deleu, Gie Ken Dror and Paul Ly and Pankaj Sharma.

Earlier an observational study in Qatar had found smoking was one of the main risk factors found in young adults admitted with ischaemic stroke.

“However, the migrant population has not been well studied and hence it was sought to determine in this study whether smoking hurt stroke onset in South Asian males working in Qatar,” said the study authors.

During the study, ischaemic stroke patients were categorised into non-smokers or current smokers and non-smokers were distinct as those who had never smoked any tobacco product.

Current smokers were defined as those who smoked any tobacco product during recruitment. Those who had quit smoking were not included in the study.

The study also suggested anti-smoking campaigns among workers in their languages to have maximum effect.