MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL OF FAMILY MEDICINE • VOLUME 7, ISSUE 10 14 ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION AND CLINICAL INVESTIGATION MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL OF FAMILY MEDICINE VOLUME 8 ISSUE 3 South Asia Journal of Family Medicine 14 SAJFM Volume 1 Issue 2, June 2010 SAJFM Volume 1 Issue 3, July 2010 SAJFM Volume 1 Issue 4, August 2010 SAJFM Volume 2 Issue 1, January 2011 SAJFM Volume 4 Issue 6 July 2012 Abstract Background: Hemorheology is the study of low properties of blood and its elements (plasma and formed elements). Blood vis- cosity is correlated with cerebral blood low and cardiac output, and increased viscosity may in- crease the risk of thrombosis or thromboembolic events. Objective: To analyze and identify social, behavioral, and hemor- heological factors related to smoking among young males in the community in Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia. Methods: Three hundred and twenty one male subjects (smok- ers (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 tempera- ture. The relationships of vari- ables 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 inluence of the family which can be parent imitation, fam- ily careless, family breakdown or other reasons. The smoking leads to a rise in hematocrit and alters the rheological proper- ties by increasing whole blood viscosity and plasma viscosity levels. Together these changes cumulate in a signiicant deterio- ration of the low 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 inluence smoking behav- ior as well as to deal with the blood rheological changes. Key words: smokers, Whole blood viscosity, Haematocrit, Plasma viscosity The Hemorheological properties of blood among Saudi male Smokers in Sakaka city, Aljouf, Saudi Arabia Hassan A. Almarshad (1) Fathelrahman M. Hassan (2) (1) College of Health Science, Al-Jouf University, Saudi Arabia (2) College of Applied Medical Science, Al-Jouf University, Saudi Arabia Correspondence: Hassan A. Almarshad College of Health Science, Al-Jouf University, Saudi Arabia Email: almarshad@ju.edu.sa Introduction Hemorheology is the study of low properties of blood and its elements (plasma and formed elements) [1]. Blood viscosity is the measure of how thin or thick the blood luid is. The viscosity of blood thus depends on the viscosity of the plasma, in combination with the hematocrit (Ht). Blood viscosity is correlated with cerebral blood low and cardiac output, and increased viscosity may increase the risk of thrombosis or thromboembolic events [2]. The study of hemorheology has been of great interest in the ields of biomedical engineering and medical research for many years. Hemorheology plays an important role in atherosclerosis [3]. There is increasing evidence indicating that low properties of blood are among the main determinants of proper tissue perfusion and alterations in these properties play signiicant roles in disease processes [1]. A strong correlation has been found between cigarette smoking and atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Various epidemiological studies have investigated the possible associations between blood rheology (i.e. haematological characteristics that could inluence blood low) and coronary heart disease rates[4,5]. This experimental study was to analyze and identify social, behavioral, and hemorheological factors related to smoking and determine the hemorheological properties of blood changes associated to cigarette smoking among young males in the community in Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia. Materials and 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. The study groups