Smoking Ban Reduces Heart Attacks in Non Smokers, New Study Confirms
Second-hand smoke or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) refers to the involuntary inhalation of smoke from tobacco products. Evidence exists that exposure to second hand tobacco smoke causes death, disease, and disability.
Passive smoking (or aspiration of ETS) is the main reason why smoking bans are recommended and enforced in indoor public places such as workplaces, restaurants, bars, and night clubs.
It is said that second hand smoke causes the same problems as smoking (cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, bronchitis and asthma (see source bellow). Statistical analyses have shown that non-smokers living with partners who smoke in the same home have a 20-30% greater risk of lung cancer, and those exposed to cigarette smoke in the workplace have an increased risk of 16-19%.[7]
The study seem to be the first to explore the effect of public smoking bans on heart attacks in non-smokers. Dr. Dong-Chul Seo led the study. He is an assistant professor in IU Bloomington's Department of Applied Health Science.
According to experts, a 30 minutes exposure to second-hand smoke increases significantly the person's risk for heart attack. This is because tobacco smoke contains carbon monoxide, a known blood vessel constrictor. The effect on carbon monoxide on blood vessels may cause the amount of oxygen carried out in the blood to decrease significantly.
The study looked at two regions: Monroe County (IN) and Delaware County (IN). Delaware County had not implemented any smoking ban during the study period while Monroe County prohibited smoking in restaurants, bars, retail spaces and workplaces.
Public Health Investigators looked for hospital admissions due to myocardial infarction. Researchers analyzed more than 35,000 admissions in Monroe county 22 months before and 22 months after the initial smoking ban was adopted. In Monroe County, a 70 percent decrease in hospital admissions for Myocardial Infarction was observed among non-smoking patients (no history of heart disease. Delaware County had only an 11% decrease.
This work seem to support previously published reports on the beneficial effect of smoking bans. In 2003, after the town of Pueblo, Colorado enacted a smoking ban in 2003 hospital admissions for heart attacks dropped 27%. Admissions in neighboring towns without smoking bans showed no change. The American Heart Association president believes that the decrease in heart attack hospitalizations seen in this and many other study is most likely due to a decrease in the effect of secondhand smoke.
Sources:
Reduced admissions for acute myocardial infarction associated with a public smoking ban: Matched controlled study," Journal of Drug Education. Vol. 37 (3), 2007.
Passive smoking and the risk of heart disease, The Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 267 No. 1, January 1, 1992
Sasco AJ, Secretan MB, Straif K. (2004). "Tobacco smoking and cancer: a brief review of recent epidemiological evidence.". Lung Cancer 45 (Suppl 2): S3-9. PMID 15552776
American Heart Association. Reduction in the Incidence of Acute Myocardial Infarction Associated with a Citywide Smoking Ordinance
Published by R. Bourne, Ph.D.
Ph.D. Food and Nutrition. MBA. R. Bourne writes mainly about Health and Wellness, Alternative Medicine and Healing, Nutrition, Dieting and Food Science and Technology. He has been writing online content... View profile
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