Farin Posted September 21, 2007 Report Share Posted September 21, 2007 [big]Scottish Smoking Ban Leads to Huge Drop in Heart Attacks[/big] [smaller]By Marco Evers Spiegel Online[/smaller] A new study provides surprising evidence of the effects of smoking bans: Heart attacks have dropped by 17 percent in Scotland since smoking was banned in public last year. The Scots are notorious for their chronically low life expectancy. Many drink and smoke too much and their diet often leaves something to be desired -- and so they tend to die a few years before the average European. In Glasgow, for example, the average man does not need to worry about what he will do on his 71st birthday. Health education campaigns costing millions of euros have nonetheless led to a decline in heart attacks over the last few years, at an annual rate of about 3 percent. But now it seems a miracle has happened: The number of heart attacks in Scotland has suddenly dropped by no less than 17 percent in a single year. What has happened? Have the Scots stopped eating red meat? Has the whole country started knocking back cholesterol medication? Are they all training for the marathon? No. The reason is much simpler: Scots are having fewer heart attacks because they are no longer inhaling other people's cigarette smoke when they sit in the pub, the train or the office. Scientists at the University of Glasgow reported last week that things have become remarkably quiet in the country's heart clinics since smoking in public was banned in Scotland in March 2006 (more...). In nine selected Scottish clinics, 3,235 heart attack victims were brought in during the 10 months before the ban. In comparison, the number for the 10 months after the ban was only 2,684. The Best Thing Since Sport Now the Scots and the rest of the world are marvelling at 551 heart attacks that never happened -- simply because of cleaner air. How can pollutants with a relatively low concentration, inhaled during the occasional visit to the pub, have such a dramatic effect? Many people in the United Kingdom have reacted incredulously to the surprising results, which make smoking bans appear to be the best and cheapest health measure since the invention of recreational sports. Some speculated that perhaps it was all to do with the weather, while the London Times recommended "healthy skepticism" in the face of the results. But for medical experts, the Scottish study is actually not that surprising. There are already several studies from other countries which have yielded very similar results: * The number of heart attacks in Ireland has fallen by about 11 percent since the smoking ban was introduced there in March 2004, Irish researchers announced at a cardiology congress in Vienna. * Following the smoking ban introduced in Italy in January 2005, the number of heart attack victims under 60 in the Piedmont region also declined by 11 percent. Previously, the number had been on the rise for years. * Residents of the city Pueblo in the US state of Colorado suffered 27 percent fewer heart attacks in the 18 months after a smoking ban was introduced in July 2003. * The number of heart attacks suffered in the town of Helena in the US state of Montana even declined by about 40 percent following a 2002 smoking ban. However when a judge legalized smoking again six months later, the number of heart attacks returned to previous levels. "The correlation between passive smoking and heart attacks is now excellently documented," says Tobias Raupach, the scientific director of an center for people who want to quit smoking at the University Medical Center Göttingen. The peculiar thing is that, both with passive and active smoking, a minimal change can already lead to a large effect. Much as with an avalanche, a small stimulus can lead to a cascade of events. The likelihood that someone will get lung cancer rises in proportion to the number of cigarettes they smoke. But when it comes to heart attacks caused by cigarette smoke, there is no such linear correlation. Just a few hours of passive smoking lead to measurable changes in the blood. "A very small amount of toxins can already cause great damage," says Raupach, adding that scientists are getting an increasingly clear picture of why that is so. The lung's reaction to the smoke means blood platelets can stick together more easily (see graphic). For people who are already close to suffering a heart attack, that can turn out to be the straw that breaks the camel's back -- or the Camel that sends them to the grave. Every year, 275,000 Germans suffer heart attacks and about 150,000 of them die. If German hearts react to cigarette smoke the same way that Scottish ones do, then the smoking bans (more...) being introduced across Germany in 2007 and 2008 could help prevent as many as 47,000 heart attacks at one stroke. The figure is hard to comprehend. Until now, not even sworn enemies of smoking believed that passive smoking could cause so much harm to so many people in Germany. Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miamisammy29 Posted September 21, 2007 Report Share Posted September 21, 2007 Heart attacks have dropped by 17 percent in Scotland since smoking was banned in public last year. Are they sure it was the smoking ban? Or is there just a shortage on haggis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny Posted September 21, 2007 Report Share Posted September 21, 2007 What I am about to write may be shocking and blow peoples minds, but I like to inform my fellow man.... ....ready, you might want to hold on to something.... .... ....non smokers die everyday.... .... ....I know shocking..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Joe Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 But do they die of smoke related diseases? Prolly not, huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 I was a smoker for almost all my life without even inhalating. Well, I guess I did inhalate my dose of oxygen mixed with the smoke of all my friends and people around me... A room full of smoke is very bad for my throat, my lungs, my nostrils, my mood... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanAm Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 As I am a Scot (albeit one who is living in Canada) I rejoice at this news. Now if we can only get the Scots to stop eating greasy, fried food, all will be well with the haggis bashers. Calgary is one of the last major jurisdictions in Canada to still allow smoking in casinos and pubs, but next year a measure banning smoking in ALL public places will be implemented. Yippee!!! Smoking sucks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 ... ahhh... pass the Nicorette , please , then ... Think though , for a moment , of all those poor farmers in the Carolina's and elsewhere that we smokers alone have been helping to get by ( what have YOU people been doing for them ?! ) ... What are they gonna do now ; grow hemp or go back to moonshining ?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Grow hemp would be fine!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Ahh ! But an unfiltered joint has as much tar as 5 cigarettes ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 ...but at least it does something else than pollute the air and kill you and the people around you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Smoke is smoke . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levis Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Hemp has variety. You needn't smoke it. You can have it as tea or brownies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Laurie_ Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Ahh ! But an unfiltered joint has as much tar as 5 cigarettes ... Use the bong Kevy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levis Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Smokers stink. No, really they do. Almost everyone at work smokes and they all walk around smelling like ashtrays. They go out to light up, but when they come in you can smell it in their clothes and hear it in their voice. Eww. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_s_1987 Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Smokers stink. No, really they do. Almost everyone at work smokes and they all walk around smelling like ashtrays. They go out to light up, but when they come in you can smell it in their clothes and hear it in their voice. Eww. Absolutely. Smoking has a negative impact on pretty much every single aspect of your life with very few positives to counterbalance them, which is why I can't understand for the life of me why anyone would do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcM Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 I, for one, enjoy smoking cigars. As long as there are cigar bars available for me to meet up with people, I will go. In no other environment have I come across so many people from so many different walks of life that enjoy each others company while talking about anything and everything that pops up. I am actually kind of glad you can not smoke in bars anymore. Since going to only cigar bars, I have not had to suffer drunks acting stupid. Granted cigars are not the best thing you can do for your health, but life is full of choices, and some risk. I would rather enjoy myself while I am here. I dont drink often, so other than the odd doughnut (shut up, Kevin) I do not have much in the way of vices. As far as me smelling like smoke, dont worry. If you dont like the way I smell, I will stay away from you. I wish that the people who bath in cologne would extend me the same courtesy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levis Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Ewwwwwww heavy cologne sprinklers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet Jane 61 Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 I will stay away from you. I wish that the people who bath in cologne would extend me the same courtesy! Oh I so know what you mean Marc!! There is a guy that I see everyday who is just soaked in cologne and it is almost nausiating! Cologne and perfumes are meant to have just a hint of a frangrance on your body, not bathe in it....eeeeeeeeewwwwwww!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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