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WHO urges countries to adopt smoking bans 

Smoking bans are an effective way of preventing heart disease, getting cigarette users to quit and protecting children from second-hand smoke, a World Health Organization (WHO) report issued on Monday said.

The report by scientists at the WHO's International Agency for Cancer Research urged more countries to adopt smoking bans in public and at the workplace, saying there was enough evidence to prove they work, without hurting businesses such as restaurants and bars.

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When I had a heart attack, I smoked a cigarette on the way to hospital  

Nick Stephens was living the life of a takeaway-munching bachelor. That was until he had a quadruple bypass at the age of 36 following his second heart attack

YOU might think two heart attacks would be enough to force an unfit 30-something to begin a drastic lifestyle change.

But when Cardiff chef Nick Stephens realised he was having his second heart attack, he smoked a cigarette on his way to A&E.

"That was the last time I had a cigarette," said Nick, now aged 37. . . .

And then came the wake-up call when he was told he would have to have a quadruple bypass after doctors found his lifestyle had put so much pressure on his heart he now had two blocked arteries.

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Fewer heart attacks in wake of smoking ban  

WELSH hospitals reported a big fall in treating heart attacks in the wake of the ban on smoking in public places last year.

In the three months from October to December 2007 - the date when the last full figures are available - there were 4,669 heart-related emergency admissions.

This compares to 5,339 in the same period of 2006 and 5,452 in 2005, according to data released to Plaid Cymru under the Freedom of Information Act.

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Fewer Heart Disease Deaths in Massachusetts as Smoking Declines  

If more states introduce tobacco control programs for their residents who are regular smokers, the number of U.S. deaths due to coronary heart disease might drop, finds a new study that looks at an ongoing Massachusetts initiative.

A connection exists between coronary heart disease and cigarette smoking, and the new study determines how a reduction in smoking affected the number of related deaths in Massachusetts between 1993 and 2003. The state introduced its Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program (MTCP) in 1992, which received funding through a special cigarette tax, and the researchers say they expected to find it helped control the rate of smoking.

“California was the first state to have a statewide program like the MTCP and they witnessed substantial declines,” said lead author Zubair Kabir, M.D.

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Smoke-Free Policies Prove Effective  

Smoke-free policies are extremely effective at reducing smoking rates, exposure to secondhand smoke, and even smoking-related heart disease, new research shows.

The report, by an International Agency for Cancer Research working group, also found smoke-free rules don't affect business in restaurants or bars.

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• Smoke-free policies are wide-ranging and extremely effective 

Smoke-free policies are reducing heart disease related to smoke exposure, the prevalence of smoking in adults and the exposure of both adults and children to second-hand smoke. Further, such policies do not decrease the business activity of the restaurant and bar industry. A reduction in the lung cancer burden is plausible but relevant evidence will only become available in the future. The findings appear in the latest of a series of Special Reports from the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC), published exclusively Online and in the July edition of The Lancet Oncology. The issue is dedicated to lung cancer and will be presented at the International Lung Cancer Conference, Liverpool, UK, from 9-12 July. . . .

The group found sufficient evidence for the following: that implementation of smoke-free policies substantially decreases second-hand smoke exposure; that smoke-free workplaces decrease cigarette consumption in continuing smokers; that smoke-free policies do not decrease the business activity of the restaurant and bar industry; that introduction of smoke-free policies decreases respiratory symptoms in workers; that voluntary smoke-free home policies decrease children's second hand smoke-exposure; and that smoke-free home policies decrease adult smoking.

Strong evidence was found that smoke-free workplaces decrease the prevalence of adult smoking; that smoke-free policies decrease tobacco use in youths; that the introduction of smoke-free legislation decreases heart disease morbidity; and that smoke-free home policies decrease smoking in youths. But, because the lead time for lung cancer to be diagnosed after exposure to a carcinogen such as cigarette smoke can be 20 or more years, the group concluded that "data are not yet available regarding the expected decline in lung cancer after implementation of smoke-free policies."

On the basis of the evidence reviewed, the Working Group recommend that governments enact and implement smoke-free policies that conform to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

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• Smoking bans reduce heart attack admissions ($$) 

Bans on smoking substantially reduce hospital admissions for heart attacks, research has shown.

On the first anniversary of the ban on public smoking in England, a report shows that smoke-free laws worldwide reduce admissions by almost one fifth (Preventive Medicine 2008 Jun 18; doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2008.06.007).

This meta-analysis of published studies shows that the effects were immediate. . . .

The analysis is based on eight studies published since 2004, when the first report of such a drop was reported for the town of Helena, Montana.

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Quit smoking, stop heart problems: Cardiologists  

Stay away from smoking and fast food, advocate eminent cardiologsits to youths as the number of young people suffering from heart problems are on the increase.

The number young people coming with heart ailments for treatment was gradually increasing but no statistics are available," they said.

It was important to have a national statistics to work on proper policies and programmes to make a healthy society, they said citing the example of American Collelge of Cardiologists' programme on diet restriction and compulsory exercises for youth

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• Prenatal cigarette smoke exposure affects infants' cardiorespiratory control 

Prenatal cigarette smoke exposure, the main risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), has an adverse effect on spontaneous recovery of breathing pauses and oxygen saturation during hypoxemia in preterm infants, researchers report.

Preterm infants are among the most vulnerable groups for SIDS, but the effects of prenatal cigarette smoke exposure and hypoxemia on their cardio-respiratory control have not been investigated, explain Shabih Hasan and colleagues from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

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One in Every Five Survivors Has Angina a Year After MI  

A year after a myocardial infarction, 20% of survivors have angina, often associated with modifiable risk factors, investigators here found.

Post-MI smoking and depression were significant predictors of angina at one year, Thomas M. Maddox, M.D., of the University of Colorado, and colleagues reported in the June 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

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Study examines prevalence of chest pain in patients 1 year after heart attack 

Nearly one in five patients experiences chest pain one year after having a heart attack, according to a report in the June 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. . . .

Patients with one-year chest pain were also more likely to continue smoking, to undergo revascularization (surgery to reestablish blood flow to the heart) after hospitalization and to have significant new, persistent or fleeting depressive symptoms.

"Multiple factors were associated with one-year angina, including demographic, clinical, inpatient and outpatient characteristics. Recognition of these relationships will be important in monitoring at-risk patients after acute myocardial infarction," the authors conclude. "In addition, future investigation into modifiable factors, such as depression and smoking cessation, will be important in the quest to alleviate angina and improve subsequent cardiac outcomes among patients after myocardial infarction."

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CV Therapeutics Announces Archives of Internal Medicine Publication of Study Showing 20 Percent of Heart Attack Patients in Premier Registry Experienced Angina at One Year 

CV Therapeutics, Inc. NASDAQ: CVTX today announced that the Archives of Internal Medicine published results of a major study demonstrating that one in five patients studied experienced chest pain one year after a myocardial infarction (MI), or heart attack, and that this angina was associated with significantly elevated rates of depression among cardiac patients in the registry. . . .

Patients with angina after one year also were more likely to smoke (p<0.001) and undergo revascularization (p<0.001). In addition, the study revealed that 21 percent of the patients with angina in the study suffered daily or weekly angina attacks. . . .

Of 1,957 post-MI patients, 389 (19.9 percent) reported angina one year after MI. Among the outpatient variables, patients with angina at one year were more likely to continue smoking, to undergo revascularization after index hospitalization (percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass graft) and to have significant new, persistent or transient depressive symptoms.

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• Fewer Heart Disease Deaths in Massachusetts as Smoking Declines 

If more states introduce tobacco control programs for their residents who are regular smokers, the number of U.S. deaths due to coronary heart disease might drop, finds a new study that looks at an ongoing Massachusetts initiative.

A connection exists between coronary heart disease and cigarette smoking, and the new study determines how a reduction in smoking affected the number of related deaths in Massachusetts between 1993 and 2003. The state introduced its Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program (MTCP) in 1992, which received funding through a special cigarette tax, and the researchers say they expected to find it helped control the rate of smoking.

“California was the first state to have a statewide program like the MTCP and they witnessed substantial declines,” said lead author Zubair Kabir, M.D., who at the time of the study was a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health. “So it was not surprising that Massachusetts, the second state, would see such declines as well, which reflect the impact of a comprehensive, integrated and — at the time — well-funded program.”

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Women, Smoking, And Heart Disease: Toenails Tell The Tale 

In a first-of-its-kind study, research results show that toenail nicotine levels can help predict risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in women. Researchers at University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, in collaboration with colleagues from Harvard University, showed that the higher the level of nicotine in the toenails, the higher the risk of coronary heart disease, no matter the number of cigarettes smoked or level of exposure to second hand smoke.

Study results were published in the online edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology, April 2008, and also appear in the June print edition.

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• Fall in heart attack numbers after smoking ban 

The number of heart attacks has fallen dramatically since the ban on smoking in public places was introduced last year, latest figures reveal.

More than half of of hospital trusts in England are treating fewer heart attacks since the ban came on July 1 last year.

Nearly six in ten NHS trusts are reporting a fall in the number of heart attack patients being admitted to emergency wards.

There were 1,384 fewer heart attacks across the county in the nine months after the legislation was introduced compared with the same period a year earlier. That translates to a three per cent fall across the country since the ban. . . .

Some hospitals have seen the number of cases fall by 41 per cent since July 2007.

The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, are the first available proof that the smoking ban has had a significant impact on health across England. . . .

Experts believe the ban has triggered a drop in heart attacks due to both the number of people quitting and the reduction in passive smoking as fewer people are exposed to airborne toxins.

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