ASSESSMENT OF BIOCHEMICAL MARKERS AND HEALTH RISKS IN ACTIVE SMOKERS

Worldwide more than 3 million people currently die each year from smoking. Smoking of tobacco is practised worldwide & common in the developing countries like India. The study is designed to determine the lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status along with serum calcium level in smokers (cigarette/bidi) with reference to the normal healthy non-smokers. 50 smokers (Cigarette/Bidi) of mean age 35± 5 years were enrolled for the study & were compared to 50 normal healthy non-smokers of the same age. Blood samples were obtained by puncture of antecubital vein and the following tests were performed i.e. P-MDA, Serum-SOD andSCalcium. Increased plasma lipid per oxidation (P<0.05) was observed in cigarette / Bidi smokers. Also a significant hike (P<0.05) in serum SOD & serum Calcium were observed in smokers when compared to normal/healthy control subjects. The increased level of lipid per oxidation products in smokers reflects that there is increased cell wall damage that may further leads to several complications such as COPD, Stroke and the variety of lung and other cancers. It was also found that cigarette / bidi smoke alters the antioxidants status as well as minerals imbalance in smokers and increases atherogenecity