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Secondhand Smoke a Threat to All
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Secondhand Smoke a Threat to All, Surgeon General Warns
It increases risk of heart disease, lung cancer and SIDS, report finds
By Amanda Gardner, HealthDay Reporter
More on this in Health & Fitness
Infants Exposed to Smoking at Risk of Lung Cancer
FDA Approves New Anti-Smoking Drug
Today's Health News
TUESDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- No amount of secondhand smoke is safe.
And the only way to protect nonsmokers is through smoke-free environments. Separating smokers and nonsmokers within the same air space or relying on sophisticated ventilation systems just doesn't work.
That's the conclusion of a new U.S. Surgeon General's report issued Tuesday, which determined that nonsmokers who were exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work had a 25 percent to 30 percent increased risk of developing heart disease and a 20 percent to 30 percent increased risk for lung cancer.
"Science has proven that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Let me say that again: There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke," Dr. Richard H. Carmona, U.S. Surgeon General, said in prepared remarks. "Only smoke-free environments effectively protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke exposure in indoor spaces," he said.
Paul G. Billings, the American Lung Association's vice president of national policy and advocacy, added: "Essentially, the Surgeon General slammed the book on any scientific debate on secondhand smoke. The evidence is clear. Secondhand smoke is harmful and needs to be eliminated."
The sweeping report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, was based on the latest research on the topic. The last comprehensive review of secondhand smoke by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services came out in 1986; that report concluded that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in nonsmokers.
Some 126 million Americans are still exposed to secondhand smoke. The risks are well documented and include heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults as well as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), respiratory problems, ear infections and asthma attacks in infants and children. Slightly more than 20 percent of children are exposed to secondhand smoke at home.
"Breathing secondhand smoke for even a short time can damage cells and set the cancer process in motion," Carmona said. "Brief exposure can have immediate harmful effects on blood and blood vessels, potentially increasing the risk of a heart attack. Secondhand smoke exposure can quickly irritate the lungs, or trigger an asthma attack. For some people, these rapid effects can be life-threatening. People who already have heart disease or respiratory conditions are at especially high risk," he added.
According to the report, nearly half of all nonsmoking Americans are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. In 2005, an estimated 3,000 adult nonsmokers died from lung cancer as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke, 46,000 from coronary heart disease and 430 newborns from SIDS.
Secondhand smoke contains more than 50 carcinogens and is a known human carcinogen, the report said.
The report also found that living with a smoker increases a nonsmoker's risk of lung cancer and heart disease by up to 30 percent. The evidence linking secondhand smoke and breast cancer, at this point, is only suggestive.
And while progress to control secondhand smoke has been made, it's not nearly enough, health officials said.
"The good news is that, unlike some public health hazards, secondhand smoke exposure is preventable," Carmona said. "A proven method exists for protecting nonsmokers from the health risks associated with secondhand smoke exposure: Avoiding places where secondhand smoke is present," he said.
According to the report, comprehensive smoking bans such as those in New York City and Boston have not hurt the hospitality industry. Also, restricting smoking in the workplace not only reduces secondhand smoke but also reduces active smoking.
Such statements are likely to fuel legislative efforts to ban smoking indoors.
"The report is going to provide an additional tool and some very robust conclusions to support smoke-free laws and ordinances across the country," Billings said. "If anything, the momentum and the pace of passing smoke-free air laws will increase as a result of the report," he said.
"Those are very powerful conclusions, because those are some of the arguments the foes of eliminating secondhand smoke try to use," Billings continued. "I think this report will rebut those kinds of claims once and for all," he added.
In the meantime, the Surgeon General has these tips on protecting yourself and your loved ones from the effects of secondhand smoke:
Make your home and car smoke-free.
Ask people not to smoke around you or your children.
Make sure that your children's day-care center or school is smoke-free.
Patronize restaurants and other businesses that are smoke-free.
Teach children to stay away from secondhand smoke.
Avoid secondhand smoke exposure especially if you or your children have respiratory conditions, if you have heart disease, or if you are pregnant.
More information
For more on protecting yourself, your family and your friends from secondhand smoke, visit Smoke Free Homes.
*bolded by me.....just thought it good to add a bit of emphasis here. i seem to recall a few threads all about this issue awhile back...and sure one can argue about private business owner's rights....but i fo one like the 'greater good' in this scenario. clearly, it is better for all not to be subjected to such in places open to the public, even privately owned.....for the workers and the patrons...i'ts not a matter of preference/convenience....but one of health.
It increases risk of heart disease, lung cancer and SIDS, report finds
By Amanda Gardner, HealthDay Reporter
More on this in Health & Fitness
Infants Exposed to Smoking at Risk of Lung Cancer
FDA Approves New Anti-Smoking Drug
Today's Health News
TUESDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- No amount of secondhand smoke is safe.
And the only way to protect nonsmokers is through smoke-free environments. Separating smokers and nonsmokers within the same air space or relying on sophisticated ventilation systems just doesn't work.
That's the conclusion of a new U.S. Surgeon General's report issued Tuesday, which determined that nonsmokers who were exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work had a 25 percent to 30 percent increased risk of developing heart disease and a 20 percent to 30 percent increased risk for lung cancer.
"Science has proven that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Let me say that again: There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke," Dr. Richard H. Carmona, U.S. Surgeon General, said in prepared remarks. "Only smoke-free environments effectively protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke exposure in indoor spaces," he said.
Paul G. Billings, the American Lung Association's vice president of national policy and advocacy, added: "Essentially, the Surgeon General slammed the book on any scientific debate on secondhand smoke. The evidence is clear. Secondhand smoke is harmful and needs to be eliminated."
The sweeping report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, was based on the latest research on the topic. The last comprehensive review of secondhand smoke by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services came out in 1986; that report concluded that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in nonsmokers.
Some 126 million Americans are still exposed to secondhand smoke. The risks are well documented and include heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults as well as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), respiratory problems, ear infections and asthma attacks in infants and children. Slightly more than 20 percent of children are exposed to secondhand smoke at home.
"Breathing secondhand smoke for even a short time can damage cells and set the cancer process in motion," Carmona said. "Brief exposure can have immediate harmful effects on blood and blood vessels, potentially increasing the risk of a heart attack. Secondhand smoke exposure can quickly irritate the lungs, or trigger an asthma attack. For some people, these rapid effects can be life-threatening. People who already have heart disease or respiratory conditions are at especially high risk," he added.
According to the report, nearly half of all nonsmoking Americans are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. In 2005, an estimated 3,000 adult nonsmokers died from lung cancer as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke, 46,000 from coronary heart disease and 430 newborns from SIDS.
Secondhand smoke contains more than 50 carcinogens and is a known human carcinogen, the report said.
The report also found that living with a smoker increases a nonsmoker's risk of lung cancer and heart disease by up to 30 percent. The evidence linking secondhand smoke and breast cancer, at this point, is only suggestive.
And while progress to control secondhand smoke has been made, it's not nearly enough, health officials said.
"The good news is that, unlike some public health hazards, secondhand smoke exposure is preventable," Carmona said. "A proven method exists for protecting nonsmokers from the health risks associated with secondhand smoke exposure: Avoiding places where secondhand smoke is present," he said.
According to the report, comprehensive smoking bans such as those in New York City and Boston have not hurt the hospitality industry. Also, restricting smoking in the workplace not only reduces secondhand smoke but also reduces active smoking.
Such statements are likely to fuel legislative efforts to ban smoking indoors.
"The report is going to provide an additional tool and some very robust conclusions to support smoke-free laws and ordinances across the country," Billings said. "If anything, the momentum and the pace of passing smoke-free air laws will increase as a result of the report," he said.
"Those are very powerful conclusions, because those are some of the arguments the foes of eliminating secondhand smoke try to use," Billings continued. "I think this report will rebut those kinds of claims once and for all," he added.
In the meantime, the Surgeon General has these tips on protecting yourself and your loved ones from the effects of secondhand smoke:
Make your home and car smoke-free.
Ask people not to smoke around you or your children.
Make sure that your children's day-care center or school is smoke-free.
Patronize restaurants and other businesses that are smoke-free.
Teach children to stay away from secondhand smoke.
Avoid secondhand smoke exposure especially if you or your children have respiratory conditions, if you have heart disease, or if you are pregnant.
More information
For more on protecting yourself, your family and your friends from secondhand smoke, visit Smoke Free Homes.
*bolded by me.....just thought it good to add a bit of emphasis here. i seem to recall a few threads all about this issue awhile back...and sure one can argue about private business owner's rights....but i fo one like the 'greater good' in this scenario. clearly, it is better for all not to be subjected to such in places open to the public, even privately owned.....for the workers and the patrons...i'ts not a matter of preference/convenience....but one of health.
Stay with me...
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
i'm referring to the surgeon general.
damn these studies...its like, can they please get to something we don't know yet. i can't believe how everyone acts like we needs studies and stuff to show the obvious. reminds me of that old doctor adage, something like:
patient: "doctor, doctor! it hurts when I do that!"
doctor: "well don't DO that!"
:rolleyes:
However, my main concern is parents who smoke inside at home where children live.....that causes major health problems in the kids. I wish all parents who smoked would keep it outdoors.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
yeh.
personally, I don't have a problem with people smoking next to me. but when I'm at a bar or some other space where people are smoking indoors it bothers me.
it hurts my eyes and head to see mothers with kids smoking inside the car (well allright, my mum smokes in the car but at least she blows the smoke outta the window, not everyone does that). :eek:
well, that is not true but i really can't stand the shit,...
~Ron Burgundy
a lot of people disagree strongly with such an idiotic habit, regardless of where you do it. with so much evidence of this or that about how it affects you, it's selfish to continue smoking and it could be manipulated to "you don't care about your significant peoples"
one thing i have noticed though is that if someone doesn't want to quit, they won't. it doesn't matter what you tell them. but i haven't given up hope. i got my girlfriend to quit, so now im working on her parents.
~Ron Burgundy
lmao, bars were invented for people to smoke and drink in. you shouldn't go to a bar if it bothers you.
that's funny, because I think smoking is more responsible than letting a television raise your children, like most Americans do. or learning to play Madden instead of learning something like a musical instrument or something that can enrich your life. or how 80% of Americans are obese. or how most Americans couldn't even tell you what continent our military is currently fighting a war on. etc etc etc.
no one has room to bitch about smokers unless their own lives are completely spotfree.
ah, you're one of THOSE people. you folks annoy the piss out of me. you're like those godamn jehovah's witnesses running around trying to save people. do you warn someone every time they eat at mcd's that the burger will probly kill them? cos such people also obviously dont care about their significant others... how old are you? are you in any of those truth ads?
that's right, because unless someone lives like a mountainman hermit, they don't have room to complain. if they drive motor vehicles that have helped destroy the earth, don't complain about smokers. if they use paper goods that were made from destroyed rainforest trees which in turn destroyed coral reefs, they have no room to complain about smokers. and like you said, being obese from stuff like fastfood will kill someone a lot quicker than cigarettes.
i really don't care who thinks it is idiotic. i do plenty of things that are self-destructive, but the fact of the matter is that, regardless of my "significant people," my self is my own to destroy. and the criticism from you and others is unwelcome. you are not my doctor, thank you very much.
and if you try to get people to quit when they are not ready or do not want you to get them to quit, that should mean "back off." you don't really have any right to berate people who do smoke if they do so on their own property or outside, no more right than i have to take a megaphone and sit outside a mcdonald's and holler at people for "killing themselves" with big macs.
i didn't even read this post before i made my own. soulsinging was thinking the same thing i was
Look at children who grew up in households where parents smoke inside....the proof is there.....increased asthma, health problems, etc.
Any habbit that costs the taxpayers millions of dollars every year is legitimate concern for the government. Smoking costs the taxpayers millions every year because Medicaid has to pick up the tab.
Thanks Mike for speaking about it and anyone that wants to stop should try it.
having babies out of wedlock and into welfare is a habit that costs taxpayers millions, if not billions of dollars, each year. should the government do something to tighten down on this?
I'm a good driver, but bad drivers cause my insurance and taxes to go up every year. something going to be done about it?
as mentioned earlier, taxpayers have to pay higher taxes for fatasses that call fastfood their main dining hall, why?
why should smokers be punished when no one else is? how about the people that are driving H2 and Tahoes? they are killing ALL of us.
i am a former smoker, LOVEd it....but i also never expected anyone to endure my smoking. i take zero issue with people smoking outdoors....you have to be able to smoke somewhere.....and of course in your home/car....couldn't care less. i also couldn't care less if someone wants to be obese, it's their choice...or whatever one else may do to adversely affect their OWN health. as long as it does not infringe on mine....go for it. now saying car emissions are bad for our health...sure.....but i am also not subjected to them continually in a closed, indoor environment...so not quite the same thing.
why are smokers 'punished'...? didn't think they were. you want to smoke, go and smoke. just don't do so in an indoor public place...b/c now you're infringing on the rights of others. that's all. i don't consider it punishment. as far as the taxes on cigarettes....well that's where the gov't comes in, covering medicare costs for your habit, etc...all your choice.
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
actually, emissions and other pollutions are the main causes for global warming, so you are actually MUCH more affected by this than by cigarette smoke.
Stop being so pathetic, whilst what you've said is true, smoking is a much easier thing to tackle so of course it will be sorted out before pollution is. We've had the smoking ban in Scotland for a couple of months now, and it's brilliant. More people have actually been going to pubs and while smoking was banned in most resturants, it's brilliant it's now against the law. I heard a smoker on the tv complain that it was horrible not being able to light up after a meal in a resturant, and I couldn't get over how rude that was of her. It's disgusting to smoke whilst someone near is eating. It's funny how some smokers always try to come up with point after point about why they should be allowed to infect other people with their habit, but at the end of the day, it can not be justified.
Basically, it won't change your life too drastically if you smoke, because you are still being allowed to smoke, you just won't be infringing on other peoples rights, and that's always a good thing, surely?
I have to edit: I wonder which is worse? Standing still in traffic sucking up all the yellow air trying to get to work and back home every day. Or a little bit of smoke?
As for increased health problems directly attributable to second-hand smoke, I would think that these problems would be decreasing in correlation to the reduction in smoking over the past 30 years or so.
completely silly. pollution is a bigger problem to EVERYONE than smoking. obesity is a bigger problem to EVERYONE than smoking.
I personally don't smoke in restaurants either, but if smoking in a restaurant bothers you, here's a novel idea.....sit in the fucking NON-SMOKING section. If a bunch of smokers are gathered around a public ashtray on the sidewalk, here's another idea.......stand SOMEWHERE else. boohoo, people are just whiny babies.
Dude you really need to take a look at asthma and the turn of the century industry before worrying about what ciggie smoking has done.
Oh by the way. My father smoked like a chimney in the house when I was growing up and my brother and I don't have asthma or any health problems. Unless my brothers hip replacement was caused by second hand smoke.
As for the habit the costs tax payers millions. Why don't you make sure they stop making the things and then we won't have second hand smoke. Then the real truth will come out about industry and emissions from cars. Some how I think the haze over the city of Toronto does more for the lungs on a hot summer day, then sucking in a breath of somebody's smoke. I wonder what you think about that?