Smoking Ban Spurs Drop In Heart Attacks

41 Percent Drop In Hospitalized Cases Reported 3 Years After Pueblo, Colo. Adopts Ban

(AP)  A smoking ban in one Colorado city led to a dramatic drop in heart attack hospitalizations, according to a new study that is considered the best and longest-term research to show such a link.

The rate of hospitalized cases dropped 41 percent three years after the ban of workplace smoking in Pueblo, Colo., took effect. There was no such drop in two neighboring areas, and researchers believe it's a clear sign the ban was responsible.

The study suggests that secondhand smoke may be a terrible and under-recognized cause of heart attack deaths in this country, said one of its authors, Terry Pechacek of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At least eight earlier studies have linked smoking bans to decreased heart attacks, but none ran as long as three years. Some critics had questioned whether a ban could have such an immediate impact, and suggested other factors could have driven the declines.

The new study looked at heart attack hospitalizations for three years following the July 1, 2003 enactment of Pueblo's ban, and found declines as great or greater than what was seen in the other research.

"This study is very dramatic," said Dr. Michael Thun, a researcher with the American Cancer Society.

"This is now the ninth study, so it is clear that smoke-free laws are one of the most effective and cost-effective to reduce heart attacks," said Thun, who was not involved in the CDC study released Thursday.

Smoking bans are designed not only to cut smoking rates but also to reduce secondhand tobacco smoke. It is a widely recognized cause of lung cancer, but its effect on heart disease can be more immediate. It not only damages the lining of blood vessels, but also increases the kind of blood clotting that leads to heart attacks. Reducing exposure to smoke can quickly cut the risk of clotting, some experts said.

"You remove the final one or two links in the chain" of events leading to a heart attack, Thun said.

Secondhand smoke causes an estimated 46,000 heart disease deaths and about 3,000 lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers each year, according to statistics cited by the CDC.

In the new study, researchers reviewed hospital admissions for heart attacks in Pueblo. Patients were classified by ZIP codes. They then looked at the same data for two nearby areas that did not have bans - the area of Pueblo County outside the city and for El Paso County.

In Pueblo, the rate of heart attacks dropped from 257 per 100,000 people before the ban to 152 per 100,000 in the three years afterward. There were no significant changes in the two other areas.

The study assumed declines in the amount of secondhand smoke in Pueblo buildings after the ban, but did not try to measure that. The researchers also did not sort out which heart attack patients were smokers and which were not, so it's unclear how much of the decline can be attributed to reduced secondhand smoke.

[skinnyminny2]

I wish they''d ban smoking in casinos. It''s not so much the health risk, but you can''t even walk through them without coming out smelling worse than a buffalo''s behind. I want to smell like a girl, not a rotten, pukey smoker.

[troutfisher4]

I would tend to agree, as long as they don''''t ban it in PRIVATE places, such as bars or restaurants.

Posted by JT_Lancer


Those are not "private" places, moron.

[jt_lancer]

random radar - ''I don''t care what self-destructive things people do to themselves, but when their actions start destroying me, their freedom ends. Banning smoking in PUBLIC places is a legitimate form of self protection against people doing us harm.''

I would tend to agree, as long as they don''t ban it in PRIVATE places, such as bars or restaurants.

[random_radar]

"How about minding your own business, folks? If smokers want to make poor life choices, they have noone but themselves to blame. Legitimizing force against them in order to ''''save'''' them is amoral.

Usually, the desire to use govt force to ''''help'''' someone is a false face for the desire to control them.

Posted by JT_Lancer at 10:18 AM : Jan 02, 2009"

In this case, the study has to do with the effects of smoking in public on the whole population. The concept is that second hand smoke is responsible for the deaths on non-smokers.

If eliminating second hand smoke exposure reduces heart attack deaths by 41% among non-smokers, then the implication is that smokers are murdering non-smokers. Murder is a strong word, but if someone intentionally does something to kill you, murder is the right word with all its connotations.

I don''t care what self-destructive things people do to themselves, but when their actions start destroying me, their freedom ends. This study illustrates that smokers are killing their neighbors as well as themselves. Banning smoking in PUBLIC places is a legitimate form of self protection against people doing us harm.

[navyjimfl]

And yet 20-25% of americans still smoke and use the world for their asstray just like the jerk who threw her cig out the car window on the way to work this morning.......why? becaue the average person is a moron.......that is why we must have more and more laws because of the irresponsibility of the average person

[my2centss]

"A smoking ban in one Colorado city led to a dramatic drop in heart attack hospitalizations,"... followed by a sharp increase as the same people started eating more high trans fat from an increased appetite, and obesity.

[jt_lancer]

How about minding your own business, folks? If smokers want to make poor life choices, they have noone but themselves to blame. Legitimizing force against them in order to ''save'' them is amoral.

Usually, the desire to use govt force to ''help'' someone is a false face for the desire to control them.

[wl7bzh]

What a crock of ***. Cars kill qicker than smoking. Hop in a room with 20 smokers for a day and you come out fine. Hop in a room with 1 running car and you have 3 minutes until you are dead dead dead.
I am a Funeral Director so I know.
Stop telling *** to the world you morons and start giving warranties on the doctors work. Oh that is right. You can''''t give a warranty because you cannot guarantee that you are going to be right???????
Wake up to yourselves you tossers and start realising that your job is only in the hospitals. Go and cull a few crocodiles and sharks for us if you want to save lives. Or further get rid of the USA and Israel if you want to save our lives!!!!!
DZH

Posted by ironore068 at 03:09 PM : Jan 01, 2009

Funeral director? I can see where any discussion of healthy living would really cut into your bottom line.

You guys still playing the "shoebox" gambit in order to guilt the grieving into an expensive wake?

Can''t wait till the cremation industry puts you bloodsuckers outta business.

[rudy6543]

I''''d rather have smoke on my breath than a foul mouth like yours.




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Posted by GrammaWhamma at 07:35 PM

You have a foul mouth and stinky breath. Anyone who complains about spending more money because people might live longer...you can''t get more foul than that.

[grammawhamma]

Hey idiot! Yeah, great idea. Let''''s encourage more smoking so people die younger and we don''''t have to pay for longevity. Smoke old witch! Smoke all you want. The sooner you''''re gone the better, eh? ----------------------------------------------------
Posted by rudy6543 at 04:15 PM : Jan 01, 2009


Find a bridge and jump off. Your life. -------------------------------------------
Posted by rudy6543 at 04:18 PM : Jan 01, 2009


I love how smokers try and justify willful stupidity. Get a BRAIN!------------------------------------------------------
Posted by rudy6543 at 04:12 PM : Jan 01, 2009


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I''d rather have smoke on my breath than a foul mouth like yours.

[bloggerbud]

I''m glad I don''t have my Cardiology practice in Colorado.

I need those smokers to put gas in my Porsche and pay for my condo on the beach.

[troutfisher4]

I encourage all you smokers to continue. Since it cuts way down on your life expectancy, that will leave more money in SS and Medicare when I retire. Thanks!

[rudy6543]

HEY rudy6543: WHEN did you become a control freak? Do you only follow studies that agree with your ideals? KEEP YOUR HANDs off my life!!!!


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Posted by CarlyLaine at 06:35 AM

Find a bridge and jump off. Your life.

[rudy6543]

More than worrying about the costs of a smoker''''s care, you should be more worried about the cost to your pocketbook of someone who dies of longevity and spends the last 25-30 years of their life on Medicare sitting in a nursing home.


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Posted by GrammaWhamma at 02:35 AM

Hey idiot! Yeah, great idea. Let''s encourage more smoking so people die younger and we don''t have to pay for longevity. Smoke old witch! Smoke all you want. The sooner you''re gone the better, eh?

[rudy6543]

Posted by ironore068 at 03:22 PM

I love how smokers try and justify willful stupidity. Get a BRAIN!

[ironore068]

machineguy,
You complain about peoples smoking costing you but you don''t care about exhaust fumes from cars hurting you. A room full of smokers and you walk home free with second hand smoke. A room with 1 car and you die from second hand smoke. I bet you drive your car into undercover parking and don''t even consider what you are doing???? I am a Funeral Director and have been in the family business for 40 years so **** off with your ***. Why don''t you complain about the billions of dollars your piece of *** government is sending off to other countries like Israel so the can just bomb innocent people. Oh that''s right!!! Only the smokers are costing you money!!!!!

Smokers, its ok if you insist on smoking. Just do it by yourselves and dont ask the rest of us to share the costs of your care. Maybe you can form separate clubs where you sneak off and "have one" but stop claiming the laws limit your freedom when you so openly abuse mine.
Posted by machineguy at 06:37 PM : Dec 31, 2008

[ironore068]

What a crock of ***. Cars kill qicker than smoking. Hop in a room with 20 smokers for a day and you come out fine. Hop in a room with 1 running car and you have 3 minutes until you are dead dead dead.
I am a Funeral Director so I know.
Stop telling *** to the world you morons and start giving warranties on the doctors work. Oh that is right. You can''t give a warranty because you cannot guarantee that you are going to be right???????
Wake up to yourselves you tossers and start realising that your job is only in the hospitals. Go and cull a few crocodiles and sharks for us if you want to save lives. Or further get rid of the USA and Israel if you want to save our lives!!!!!
DZH

[troutfisher4]

MY FREEDOM!
MY CHOICE!
MY LIFE!

Posted by CarlyLaine


MY FREEDOM: Freedom to smoke stops when it affects the ability of others to breath clean air.

MY CHOICE: Choose wisely. You have nothing without your health.

MY LIFE: Will certainly be shorter if you continue to smoke.

[tngreen]

CarlyLaine, if you can figure out a way to keep your nasty cigarette smoke out of my air, then for all I care you can eat a carton of cigarettes a day. My air, my freedom to breathe, MY LIFE.

[amrt5016]

Another Bullshiite study to PROVE that they are the ones who know what''''s the best for us. I say BULLSHIITE!!!!! Keep your nasty socialistic fingers off my STUFF!!!!
Posted by CarlyLaine at 05:58 AM : Jan 01, 2009

The population that we should be concerned about doesn''t include just smokers but also those who aren''t smokers but are exposed to second-hand smoke. Polluting the environment, in this case, the air in the immediate vicinity, is no less reprehensible than throwing toxic chemicals in the ground that can seep into other people''s source of ground water.