Passive smoking may up snoring risk in kids
New York, July 8 : Parents who smoke at home exposing their children to passive tobacco inhalation may increase the risk of developing habitual snoring in kids, according to a study.
The findings showed that children are at a two per cent higher risk of snoring for every cigarette smoke in home daily.
Children born to fathers who smoke were at a 45 per cent higher risk of snoring than unexposed children. While mothers who smoke increase the risk of developing habitual snoring in their kids by nearly 90 per cent.
Those exposed to prenatal smoke were almost twice as likely to develop habitual snoring.
"Some parents may think snoring in kids is benign or even cute. But snoring is often the first step towards developing sleep apnoea and has been linked to high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease," Lucy Popova, a researcher at Georgia State University was quoted as saying to the Daily Mail.
Sleep apnoea is a serious disorder characterized by regular pausing in breathing while sleeping.
Published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the study examined data from 24 existing studies that included nearly 88,000 children.
The team found that the younger a child is, the more susceptible he or she is to developing the habit of snoring.
"Quitting tobacco use entirely is the best way to preserve your own health and the health of your children," said Sophie Balk from Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York, US.
However the study was not able to show how smoking was associated with higher risk of developing habitual snoring among children.
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Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
