INTRODUCTION
Tobacco smoke is said to be a complex mixture of many toxic chemicals deleterious to the cellular and tissue functions in the body. These include the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), aromatic amines and N-nitrosamines said to be carcinogenic (1). TheWorld Health Organization (WHO) estimates an annual mortality of about 10 million smokers by year 2025 (2), with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases being the major causes. Active and passive (second hand) smoke exposures are reported to be associated with transient increases in heart rate and blood pressure, increased coronary vasoconstriction (3), haemodynamic stress, oxidant injury (4), neutrophil activation, enhanced thrombosis and increased fibrinogen and blood viscosity (5), dyslipidaemia, proteinuria, endothelial dysfunction and increased blood pressure (6), an observation very much under debate amongst researchers (7).
