Smoking ban leads to major drop in heart attacks

[Crabtownboy]

ATLANTA – A smoking ban in one Colorado city led to a dramatic drop in heart attack hospitalizations within three years, a sign of just how serious a health threat secondhand smoke is, government researchers said Wednesday. The study, the longest-running of its kind, showed the rate of hospitalized cases dropped 41 percent in the 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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081231/ap_on_he_me/med_smoking_ban_heart

 

[Alcott]

Nothing in that article indicates the victims of heart attacks, their smoking habits before and after the ban, their levels of exposure to 'second hand smoke,' and any changes in cholestrol intake, changes in industrialization locally, or other related factors. This may imply that the ban has had a positive effect on heart disease, but it does not definitely prove anything. And, of course, if the statistics for the next year imply the opposite or neutrality, the same source which had this publicity put out will be reticent.

 

[Revmitchell]

Nothing in that article indicates the victims of heart attacks, their smoking habits before and after the ban, their levels of exposure to 'second hand smoke,' and any changes in cholestrol intake, changes in industrialization locally, or other related factors. This may imply that the ban has had a positive effect on heart disease, but it does not definitely prove anything. And, of course, if the statistics for the next year imply the opposite or neutrality, the same source which had this publicity put out will be reticent.

Awww. Don't judge them by their results. Just judge them by their intentions. People have a right to eat extra gravy on everything, smoke cigarettes and have a heart attack and die if they want.

 

[billwald]

Smoking ban probably doubles medicare and SS costs.