Post by mcnass on Sept 23, 2007 6:38:45 GMT 10
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.
Two men smoke outside an Edinburgh pub. Heart attacks have dropped by 17 percent since smoking in public was banned in Scotland in March 2006.
Two men smoke outside an Edinburgh pub. Heart attacks have dropped by 17 percent since smoking in public was banned in Scotland in March 2006.
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?
more:
www.spiegel.de/international/
Two men smoke outside an Edinburgh pub. Heart attacks have dropped by 17 percent since smoking in public was banned in Scotland in March 2006.
Two men smoke outside an Edinburgh pub. Heart attacks have dropped by 17 percent since smoking in public was banned in Scotland in March 2006.
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?
more:
www.spiegel.de/international/