Abstract
Background: Hemorheology is the study of flow properties of blood and its elements (plasma and formed elements). Blood viscosity is correlated with cerebral blood flow and cardiac output, and increased viscosity may increase the risk of thrombosis or thromboembolic events.
Objective: To analyze and identify social, behavioral, and hemorheological factors related to smoking among young males in the community in Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia.
Methods: Three hundred and twenty one male subjects (smokers (195), ex smokers (105) and never smokers (21)) with different age groups were enrolled into the study as a randomized sample. Social information was collected from all study groups. Hematocrit (HCT), Whole Blood Viscosity (WBV) and Plasma Viscosity (PV) were measured at room temperature. The relationships of variables with whole blood or plasma viscosity were analyzed by SPSS 17.0 and Origin 6.0 statistical software.
Results: Percentage of cigarette smokers is high compared to ex and never smoked persons. The common reason for smoking was the influence of the family which can be parent imitation, family careless, family breakdown or other reasons. The smoking leads to a rise in hematocrit and alters the rheological properties by increasing whole blood viscosity and plasma viscosity levels. Together these changes cumulate in a significant deterioration of the flow properties of blood.
Conclusions: Alterations of blood rheology in turn can promote atherothrombogenesis in several ways. Smoking increases the risk of vascular diseases through its effects on blood rheology. Further prospective and public health studies would be required to deal with common reasons which influence smoking behavior as well as to deal with the blood rheological changes.