Posted on 06/27/2006 11:34:51 PM PDT by at bay
U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona today issued a comprehensive scientific report which concludes that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their risk of developing heart disease by 25 to 30 percent and lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent. The finding is of major public health concern due to the fact that nearly half of all nonsmoking Americans are still regularly exposed to secondhand smoke.
The report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, finds that even brief secondhand smoke exposure can cause immediate harm. The report says the only way to protect nonsmokers from the dangerous chemicals in secondhand smoke is to eliminate smoking indoors.
“The report is a crucial warning sign to nonsmokers and smokers alike,” HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt said. "Smoking can sicken and kill, and even people who do not smoke can be harmed by smoke from those who do.”
Secondhand smoke exposure can cause heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults and is a known cause of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), respiratory problems, ear infections, and asthma attacks in infants and children, the report finds.
“The health effects of secondhand smoke exposure are more pervasive than we previously thought,” said Surgeon General Carmona, vice admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service. “The scientific evidence is now indisputable: secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance. It is a serious health hazard that can lead to disease and premature death in children and nonsmoking adults.” Secondhand smoke contains more than 50 cancer-causing chemicals, and is itself a known human carcinogen. Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke inhale many of the same toxins as smokers. Even brief exposure to secondhand smoke has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and increases risk for heart disease and lung cancer, the report says. In addition, the report notes that because the bodies of infants and children are still developing, they are especially vulnerable to the poisons in secondhand smoke.
“The good news is that, unlike some public health hazards, secondhand smoke exposure is easily prevented,” Surgeon General Carmona said. “Smoke-free indoor environments are proven, simple approaches that prevent exposure and harm.” The report finds that even the most sophisticated ventilation systems cannot completely eliminate secondhand smoke exposure and that only smoke-free environments afford full protection.
Surgeon General Carmona noted that levels of cotinine -- a biological marker for secondhand smoke exposure -- measured in nonsmokers have fallen by 70 percent since the late 1980s, and the proportion of nonsmokers with detectable cotinine levels has been halved from 88 percent in 1988-91 to 43 percent in 2001-02.
“Our progress over the past 20 years in clearing the air of tobacco smoke is a major public health success story,” Surgeon General Carmona said. “We have averted many thousands of cases of disease and early death and saved millions of dollars in health care costs.” He emphasized, however, that sustained efforts are required to protect the more than 126 million Americans who continue to be regularly exposed to secondhand smoke in the home, at work, and in enclosed public spaces.
To help communicate the report findings as widely as possible, the Surgeon General unveiled an easy-to-read guide with practical information on the dangers of secondhand smoke and steps people can take to protect themselves.
Same here.
I think lots of bugs don't like tar or nicotine. Don't the smoking nazis also believe in homeopathy, or whatever it is, poison in small amounts make you immune. Same principal as vaccination?
Hey, smoking could be the universal antidote if you start early enough.
I understand one of the reasons so many kids are on ritilin is because they aren't smoking anymore.
My mother would send me to the store when I was a kid to get her a carton of Camels. $2.00 in 1954. 25 cents in the Army in 1969. My mother is 84 and still going strong, though she made a concession 10 years ago and now smokes lights.
yitbos
BTW, what do you think of second hand citrus fruit and peanut derivatives? Hmmmmm? I think they should be outlawed. Along with officious sanctimonious liberal jerks who believe they have a right to tell people how to live. The same mentality as telling everyone to live in a city instead of here:
Because "people have allergies."
My front yard and backyard.
Wouldn't it carry even more weight had he quoted the study performed by teh World Health Organization?
Oh wait, they got rid of theirs, they forgot to have their conslusion first and make the study fit.
Nanny staters and smoke gnatzies on both sides of the aisles.
Holy sheit! 1954? Oh man, don`t tell me that, I`ll never quit. I don`t understand that, I always see people who have been smoking 9000 years, yet they are still able to breathe, how is that possible? You would figure if the cancer or the heart problems don`t get you, the emphysema will. Damn, I had one guy get in my taxi last year (I drive a taxi) and his lungs literally sounded like cellophane getting crunched up, it totally freaked me out, it was LOUD, and he had the tank and everything and he said he smoked since he was 15 and was in his 60`s. He said if he had a choice he would rather take the cancer as he constantly felt like he is suffocating. His doc said he needed a lung transplant but he was too old or something. I don`t even know if he`s alive anymore, this dude could hardly move without taking a break first. Oh man, I gotta quit, this is nuts.
My brother-in-law is a doctor. His whole family is LDS (no smoke, no alcohol, no caffeine). That family has been antiseptic since they were born. My sister has 8 kids. They are all sickly. The slightest breaking of the skin causes an infection.
A little poison does wonders. I suppose if my mother dies at 85 they will say it was the smoking. If she lives to be 105 they will say it was the genes.
No death certificate has ever listed "smoking" as the cause of death.
yitbos
Yea, I believe it. There was an article I read, I think it was National Geographic a few months ago, that said scientists are doing a study to find why kids on farms are less prone to sickness than other kids..Well because farm kids roll in mud and shiet all day and their bodies are use to it, can handle it, what is there to study? If the immune system is rarely used because a kid lives with his mother who is a cleanliness fanatic, when he visits a farm or some other place where 20 zillion microbes are floating around, he`s going to get annahilated.
But just one stinky microgram of "secondhand" smoke is a death sentence.
YO! FAT PEOPLE! THEY ARE COMING FOR YOU NEXT!
I think they want us all to quit smoking so they can catch us in the next phase of the nanny state-the 'war' on fat.
this general thinks you are better off being the smoker than the non smorker getting second hand smoke
when they ban smoking on the planet, that will leave more for me at a mucj lower price
fricken PC idiots
Another load of BS from the anti-smoking Nazis.
'Hey, I`ve been smoking 4 -5 packs of non-filtered camels for the past 30 years and my lung feels great!'
I'm not surprised your lungs feel great, that works out to only one cigarette every 110 days! :D
I read not too long ago about the problem in Britain with kids being susceptible to every little thing- and they cited overuse of cleaning agents removing too much of the everyday dirt one needs to build immunity.
As for the secondhand smoke- if it's so bad then they better ban combustion engine vehicles because I'll bet than being stuck behind a bus in traffic is worse than sitting in the same restaurant with a smoker.
I smoked for 20 years and I think I was in better shape both physically and mentally when I smoked. For starters I'm now 10 lbs heavier and my childhood allergies are back.
I'm not saying you shouldn't quit- cost alone was reason enough for me- but I don't think smoking has the same effect on everyone, and there are so many factors in getting cancer that I don't think they can blame it all on cigarettes.
Social engineering at its best.
"for the children" is a buzz phrase when they want to make something un-PC and smoking is definitely not PC.
just asking.
Well, what can we really say about Dr. Carmona as our Surgeon General. . .; I mean, he did serve in Vietnam. . .
Nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their risk of developing heart disease by 25 to 30 percent and lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent.
Same could be said about breathing car exhaust or campfire smoke.
. . .that is not how Libs wage war. . .albeit they run a better campaign to thwart the legal vices of Americans; than they do against genuine and immediate threats to civilization. . .civilization. . .
If it were true. . .the majority of posters here. . .the majoriity of subway riders. . .the majority of sports fans. . .< I>the majority of the majority of our population would have already expired. . .which is to say. . .dead and loooong gone.
Meantime, if anyone is worried. . .drink Green tea. . .
hmm. ..a stumble here. ..there; but the message is in tact. . .
I demand that all motor vehicles and pollution-emmitting factories are banned as well, since there is no "safe" exposure level to their poison, either. Additionally, I want contagious people banned from public places, as transmitted illness kills hundreds of thousands each year.
Carmona is also adamantly opposed to tobacco smoking, and has stated more than once that he wants all tobacco sales and consumption prohibited nationwide.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.