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Smoking Ban Health Hype Going Up in Smoke

Studies linking smoke-free laws to heart health appear weak

By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 25, 2009 5:23 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Reporters are covering stories that link smoking bans to lower heart attack rates—which would be terrific news if it were true, Christopher Snowdon writes on Spiked. Even the anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health stood up to a Sunday Times report of a "10% heart attack drop," saying it had no foundation in science. A BBC report claiming even better numbers was based on three studies, and amusing ones at that.

The studies either side-stepped the awkward fact that heart attacks had gone up in cities after smoking bans, or they found a laughably high 40% plunge. For harder data, Snowdon writes, look at hospitals, which have seen no drop in England, Scotland, and Wales after anti-smoking legislation. But "it may be too late for the anti-smoking lobby to back down on this issue," writes Snowdon. "Too many reputations are at stake."

A man lights up a cigarette in a shop in York, England Friday June 29, 2007 two days before the smoking ban comes into force in England on July 1.
A man lights up a cigarette in a shop in York, England Friday June 29, 2007 two days before the smoking ban comes into force in England on July 1.   (AP Photo/John Giles/PA Wire)
In this June 11, 2009 file photo, a customer at the Red Key Taven in Indianapolis lights a cigarette.
In this June 11, 2009 file photo, a customer at the Red Key Taven in Indianapolis lights a cigarette.   (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, file)
A man smokes bidi, a small hand-rolled cigarette on No Tobacco Day in Allahabad, India, Sunday, May 31, 2009.
A man smokes bidi, a small hand-rolled cigarette on "No Tobacco Day" in Allahabad, India, Sunday, May 31, 2009.   (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Miao Nan, executive director of Ruyan Group Ltd., puffs an electronic smoke while he shows other design during an interview at his office in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009.
Miao Nan, executive director of Ruyan Group Ltd., puffs an electronic smoke while he shows other design during an interview at his office in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009.   (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Cigarettes are shown in an ash try in this 2006 file photo.
Cigarettes are shown in an ash try in this 2006 file photo.   (AP Photo/Michael Probst, FILE)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 18 comments
riffran
Sep 28, 2009 6:08 AM CDT
well Derni..some people are just plain ole lucky..and have excellent genetics..I smoked for 10 years and had a constant wheeze develop, and hacked all the time...so count you're lucky stars and hope you inherited those same sound genes
riffran
Sep 27, 2009 10:51 AM CDT
next lesson, congestive heart failure and COPD..lol..
riffran
Sep 27, 2009 10:49 AM CDT
tar (found in ciggys and a variety of other things), is a known carcinogen, nicotine is highly addictive, and causes vasoconstriction (causes blood vessles to constrict), which leads to decreased circulation in the peripheral circulation, and also throughout the body, couple that with too much tanning, you get skin surface connective tissue breakdown...(nasty leathery hag skin effect). also you get an elevated blood pressure, which leads to decreased vessel wall elasticity, and hardening of the arteries ..now you get plaque buildup (here comes the decreased coronary circulation, and add more nicotine, further restriction even less blood flow to the heart, the heart has to speed up and work harder ..again......smoking causes the cilia lining the inside of you're lungs to stop working, thus inhibiting clearing secretions from the lungs, pre-disposing you to asthma flare ups, and pneumonia, smoking also damages the aveoli in the lungs decreasing the ability for gas exchange in the lungs, which effects O2 entering the blood and CO2 from leaving. Higher levels of CO2 in the system cause an increase in heart rate, and more work on the heart, also lower O2 levels in the blood do the same. Long term conditions like this cause the heart to enlarge, become less effecient, which decreases the ability to exchange gasses in the lungs (see the nasty circle).so I geuss you can say that smoking itself does not cause cancer, or other *ahem* problems but it pre-disposes you to having a better chance of getting health issues

 
study • smoking • research • heart attack • smoking ban • anti-smoking

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