Passive smokers, particularly the boys, are more likely to suffer from the heart disorders such as high blood pressure to a significant extent, claimed a recent research.

Through the course of the study, it was observed that the boys who inhale second hand smoke can experience noticeable high blood pressure in later stages of their life. On the other hand, girls living in an environment that supports passive smoking were detected with considerably lower blood pressure.

Dr. Jill Baumgartner, of the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment of said: "These findings support several previous studies suggesting that something about female gender may provide protection from harmful vascular changes due to secondhand smoke exposure”.

Ms. Baumgartner analyzed over 6, 400 children, falling in the age group of 8 to 17, with second-hand tobacco smoke and noticed an average increase of 1.6 mmHg – or a 1% increase on average healthy levels in comparison with boys who had not inhaled the smoke whereas girls exposed to secondhand smoke had lower systolic blood pressures, by 1.8 mmHg on average.

Further, the raised blood pressure level among the boys may cause hypertension, which is one of the root causes for the development of many heart and kidney diseases.