More and more smoking bans are being implemented in communities across the country. The debate of such bans also continues. The fact that smoke and second-hand smoke is harmful is not debatable; the freedom of who smokes, when they smoke and where they smoke is debatable, but we won’t go there on this blog.
The CDC asked a committee of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to assess data on the relationship of second-hand smoke and coronary artery events. In short, they determined an association between second-hand smoke, cardio-vascular disease and acute coronary events.
The IOM also determined smoking bans are effective at reducing the risk for heart failure and cardio-vascular disease. Reductions of between 6% and 47% of heart attacks were realized where smoking bans were enacted.
You can read more about the IOM’s findings in Cardiology Today at http://www.cardiologytoday.com/view.aspx?rid=44613.
Check back with us next week when I am going to blog something to think about when it comes to healthcare reform. I am not going to delve into the politics of such, but with a little satire I will touch on what I mean by Smoking Bans…Could that be REAL Healthcare Reform?
—Marty Hudson