Nidhi Sharma
People who hide a cigarette habit can easily be caught now. Researchers have found a new blood test that identifies levels of carbon monoxide in a person to determine whether someone is a smoker or not.
The device, pulse cooximeters detects levels of carbon monoxide in patients and firefighters, a U.S. study found. It can also be used to detect carbon monoxide levels in people who smoke, thus educating patients about the effects of smoking.
Study author Dr. Sridhar P. Reddy of St. Clair Pulmonary and Critical Care, St. Clair, Mich., said, "It starts a conversation to make people more and more aware of what smoking can do to them and to give them more information about why they should quit, instead of a boring sermon every time."
If smokers knew their blood carbon monoxide levels, they might be more motivated to quit smoking or never start in the first place. Reddy said.
Pulse oximeter is a device that's placed over the fingertip and measures oxygen levels in the blood by passing light waves into the skin. The device costs $4,000-$5,000 and measures the level of carbon monoxide in hemoglobin.
It accurately spotted up 95 percent of all smokers when Reddy looked only at those who had a 6 percent or higher level of carbon monoxide.
Though the device doesn't detect every smoker but Reddy said it can be used to detect light or heavy smokers.
The findings were presented at Chest 2007, the 73rd annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians in Chicago.
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