Posted on 04/30/2006 8:31:10 AM PDT by SheLion
While a growing majority of Americans favor smoking restrictions in public places, many adults still expose their children to significant health risks by puffing tobacco at home, a Mississippi State University researcher reports.
In a scientific paper presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in San Francisco, Robert McMillen, MD cites changes in adult attitudes and behaviors over the past six years regarding secondhand smoke.
McMillen’s report, “Changes from 2000 to 2005 in U.S. Adult Attitudes and Practices Regarding Children’s Exposure to Secondhand Smoke,” stems from his comprehensive 2000 National Social Climate Survey of Tobacco Control.
“The vast majority of adults in 2005—97 percent-- recognized the dangers of exposure to secondhand smoke from parental smoking ,” McMillen found. “Yet, a tenth of households—10 percent—allow indoor smoking in the presence of children.”
The 2000 survey was funded by MSU’s Social Science Research Center, where McMillen is an associate research professor and leading authority on secondhand smoke; the Center for Child Health Research of the American Academy of Pediatrics; and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.
A newly appointed member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the AAP’s Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence for Children in Chicago, McMillen said data in his latest report “have a number of implications for clinical and community interventions.
“While they demonstrate significant improvement in many indicators of adult attitudes and practices, homes serve as settings for intense secondhand smoke exposure, and many public settings that children frequent still are not smoke free,” he determined.
“A growing majority of adults in the U.S. favor restrictions on smoking in public settings, suggesting that many communities across the nation have the public support for much broader public smoking restriction policies,” he concluded.
McMillen and his research team conducted six annual cross-sectional household telephone surveys in the summers of 2000-2005, while numerous state and national tobacco control programs were being implemented. The surveys included national probability samples of adults from all 50 states, and had a response rate of 75-87 percent.
Support for smoking bans increased from:
--71 to 80 percent in shopping malls;
--61 to 71 percent in restaurants;
--77 to 82 percent in fast-food restaurants;
--25 to 39 percent in outdoor parks; and
--78 to 82 percent in indoor sporting events.
Regarding household practices, support increased from 69 to 77 percent for smoke-free homes; and from 79 to 90 percent for smoking bans when children are present.
Community practices that included smoking bans increased from:
--75 to 83 percent in indoor shopping malls;
--68 to 80 percent in convenience stores;
--52 to 72 percent in fast-food restaurants;
--25 to 45 percent in restaurants; and
--8 to 15 percent in outdoor parks.
Mississippi State’s Social Science Research Center, headed by Art Cosby, conducts basic and applied research encompassing social and economic development, families and children, alcohol safety, substance abuse, and a range of other issues.
Repeat after me....
JA, MEIN FUHRER, JA MEN FUHRER, JA MEIN FUHRER.....
I think you've already got it though.
Repeat after me....
JA, MEIN FUHRER, JA MEIN FUHRER, JA MEIN FUHRER.....
I think you've already got it though.
Well, thank God you didn't grow up in the same time frame I did. And if you did, you sure didn't open your mouth like you do here in FR.
You think "we" are wackjobs? heh! Don't even ask me what we think YOU are! And thank God YOU are out numbered in Free Republic.
Even the non smokers in Free Republic are kind decent people. But it's the anti's, such as yourself, that are down right nasty. How DO you live with yourself?
Oh, and by the way, if you think this is going to stop at tobacco, you're a bigger fool than I thought.
From http://ipf.upmc.com/Diagnosis.htm (I don't know what proper html codes for other sites are required - html challenged, I am.)
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)
Diagnosis
The earlier patients are diagnosed, the more likely they will be able to lead an active life style. Oxygen therapy, along with a common-sense diet and exercise regimen, can minimize IPF's impact, allowing the patient to live and work productively. Of course, more advanced cases (especially when combined with other health problems) will have a greater impact on a patient's lifestyle.
While the exact cause of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is unknown, great strides are being made in the effective diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
Patients are diagnosed with IPF when they experience:
shortness of breath
dry, nonproductive cough
Velcro®-like sound in the lungs when examined with a stethoscope
abnormal chest x-ray
reduced lung capacity as evidenced through a pulmonary function test
If symptoms and medical history point towards IPF, the doctor will most likely order some or all of the following tests:
Chest x-ray
A chest x-ray would almost always reveal shadows in the lungs which are called infiltrates, mostly in the lower part of the lungs. Furthermore, the lungs appear smaller than normal.
Computed Tomography (CT Scan)
A CT scan combines a number of cross-sectional views to provide a detailed picture of the inside of the lungs. The patient slides through a donut-shaped machine which emits x-rays on all sides of the body, and a computer compiles and displays the information. This is the best x-ray test to study the lung in IPF. A special form of the CT scan, called a high resolution CT scan, provides the most detailed picture of the lung and should be done routinely in the evaluation.
Pulmonary Function Tests
The patient breathes in and out through a mouthpiece, which is connected to a spirometer. This machine measures the volume of air in the lungs and the lungs' ability to oxygenate the blood.
Arterial Blood Gas
A sample of blood is taken from one of the small arteries in either wrist to measure the oxygen level. This is different from the vein, where most blood specimens are usually taken.
Exercise Desaturation Study
This is a stress test to determine if the lungs can keep up with the amount of oxygen needed during a standard amount of activity. A device to measure oxygen saturation in arterial blood will be placed on a finger tip and the patient will be asked to walk on a treadmill. If the oxygen level falls during exercise, supplemental oxygen will be delivered during the study to determine the oxygen required to keep the saturation level above 90 percent.
Echocardiogram
This is a "sonogram" of the heart which measures the strength of the heart muscle and the pressure within the pulmonary artery. This test will determine whether pulmonary hypertension and heart strain have occurred.
Fiberoptic Bronchoscopy
The doctor inserts a long, flexible tube with a camera at the end into the trachea in order to examine the airways of the lungs, to lavage or wash the lungs and to obtain small pieces of tissue by biopsy which is called transbronchial biopsy. The lavage fluid is analyzed carefully for signs of infection. A pathologist evaluates the transbronchial lung biopsies to arrive at a tissue diagnosis if at all possible. This form of lung biopsy, however, is felt to be inadequate for confirming a diagnosis of IPF.
Open Lung Biopsy
Because the amount of tissue obtained with a transbronchial lung biopsy is inadequate to confirm the diagnosis of IPF, an open chest procedure or surgical lung biopsy is needed. Currently, the most common approach to an open lung biopsy is called a video-assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsy (VATS). During this procedure, the surgeon makes a number of small (band aid-size) incisions in the chest to insert instruments and remove small pieces of lung tissue from several different places. At times a larger incision may be required. The pulmonary pathologist examines this tissue under a microscope, which is the surest way to make a diagnosis of IPF or other lung diseases. Recovery from this procedure is relatively swift. The average hospital stay is three to five days. The length of stay for a biopsy requiring a larger incision is usually five to seven days.
It's perfectly normal to feel depressed or angry after a diagnosis of IPF. Psychological counseling can help. In addition, a patient's social and family support system will play an important role in helping to maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle.
Now lets not be bringing logic and reasoning into the equation.
Forcing anyone to breath unnecessary smoke is abuse. Doing it to your own kids is the worse kind of abuse. At least adults can opt out, children have no such option.
I thought I was!
Wish the gubbmint would think the same, if ya know what I mean...
FMCDH(BITS)
Wackjobs?
What a condescending post!
Having a bad day?
Will the last real Mississippian to leave, please take down the flag and bring it with him.
Hint it is not a conservative value to demand the government tell other people what to do........nor is it a conservative value to lie about and misrepresent what others have stated in regard to this issue.
You are a trouble maker on these threads and unless you can back up your allegations that anyone has "bragged about putting" their kids at risk I suggest you cease and desist.
You have hurled your allegations against several of us more than once, ...............yet have never provided the documentation of such bragging.........
Put up or shut up, as the saying goes.
I heard someone on a talk show say never has their ever been a recorded death for second hand smoke.
AT LEAST I CAN STILL SMOKE IN MY CAR
Ah, ah....not in Arkansas.
Texas has just passed a dollar a pack tax on cigarettes and I haven't decided if I will pay it or not. Wonder what's next if the revenue does not come in?
I know a LOT of smokers, almost everyone I know. None of them smoke around their children, whether it be in the home or the car. They all go outside to smoke when at home. ALL of them.My twins are long gone living their own lives, but when I get visitors who have children in tow, my wife and I smoke outside. Period.Just like I won't light up in any non-smoking places.......(that's why I spend very little $$ at restaurants or bars).
Just wish we had some people here in America that were around in this nation in the 1770s. Oh, we do. They are going to be protesting tomorrow while the taxpayers sit in their a$$e$ & bitch at themselves. Then wonder why were headed to totalitarianism.
Being exposed to your posts is abuse.
You can bet your sweet bippy that the anti-smokers who drink may regret all their crap about the smoking when the nannys come after them for drinking in their home with children or having guns.
Still claiming you're from Detroit these days, even though you don't know the geography?
It's OK for our health system to go broke paying for illegals but God help the soul who smokes. Secretly, I hope 90 percent of the illegals smoke and tell the do-gooders to go f*** themselves after the dogooders welcome them into the fold.
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