The Relationship between the Cigarette Smoking Intensity and Hematological Parameters among University Students

Abstract

Objective: According to World Health Organization (WHO) nearly 5 million people worldwide died every year due to diseases caused by cigarette smoking. If the trends continue, there will be 8 million deaths in 2030. Around 80% of the world’s 1.1 billion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries. To find solutions on this critical situation along with the raising people awareness about the dangerous of cigarette smoking, the damages related to smoking (i.e., hematological parameters) need to be assessed more to obtain better knowledge, treatment, and better health policy on smoking related problems. Cigarette smoking based on previous studies has acute and chronic effects on various hematological parameters with some inconsistent results. Many studies show cigarette smoking increases blood leucocyte levels but its effect on other hematological parameters is largely unexplored and inconsistent. This study aims to determine the relationships between the degrees of smoking and some hematological parameters. Method: This study was a cross-sectional design study on 51 healthy male students of Liaquat University of Medical Health Sciences, aged 18 – 24 years old. Result: The subjects are active smokers of at least 2 cigarettes daily in duration of minimally 2 years. Blood samples were obtained from the subjects and measured for various hematology parameters. Conclusion: There is a strong significant association between the intensity of cigarette smoking with total leucocyte levels (p< 0.000), neutrophil, basophil, and lymphocyte count (p< 0.05).