Being married to a smoker 'can raise your stroke risk'

New York, July 30 (PTI) Apart from verification of credentials, just find out whether your potential life partner puffs or not, for a new study has revealed that being marriedto a smoker can significantly raise your risk of a stroke.

Previous studies have indicated the dangers of stroke to smokers, but till now had not explored the high risk frompassive smoking.

Now a team at Harvard University has found that even if one does not smoke, tying the knot with a smoker increases the chance of suffering a heart stroke by upto 72 percent,the 'American Journal of Preventive Medicine' reported.

"These findings indicate that spousal smokingincreases stroke risk among non-smokers and former smoker.

"The health benefits of quitting smoking likely extend beyond individual smokers to affect their spouses, potentiallymultiplying the benefits of smoking," lead researcher Dr.

Maria Glymour wrote.

The researchers came to the conclusion after analysing the records of more than 16,000 people in the U.S. They looked at people aged over 50, and their spouses, over a period ofnine years.

The study found that if the person had never-smoked, living with a smoker raised stroke risk by 42 percent. If he or she had smoked at some point in their lives, but given up,the increase in risk was even higher, at 72 percent.

The results were true after taking all other factorsinto consideration.

However, the study revealed that being married to a former smoker did not increase risk, suggesting that this extra risk would fall away if the partner stopped smoking. PTI MOT AMT