U.S. health experts say laws that bar smoking in public places appear to dramatically cut the number of heart attacks according to a recent study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Researchers studying a smoking ban in the western U.S. state of Colorado say a no smoking law in one city led to a 40 percent decrease in the number of residents hospitalized for heart attacks.
Dr. Terry Pechacek, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention"s Office on Smoking and Health, says the study indicates that secondhand smoke may be an under-recognized cause of heart attack deaths.
"For too long we have considered exposure to secondhand smoke in restaurants, bars, and other places as typical and common, however, these data indicate that even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can produce rapid and adverse changes in the functioning of the heart and blood, and cause heart attacks," he said.
In 2003, the city of Pueblo, Colorado passed a law making public places and workplaces smoke-free. Researchers say they found there were 399 hospital admissions for heart attacks in Pueblo in the 18 months before the ban. After the no-smoking law was passed, 237 people were hospitalized for heart attacks in the same time period.
Dr. Pechacek says researchers also studied nearby areas in Colorado without smoking bans. He says they found there was no significant change in the number of heart attack hospitalizations in these areas.
"The fact that there was no change in the comparison counties and the comparison areas around Pueblo suggests that the only thing that is reasonable to assume as having this big effect was the impact of the law, he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says other studies have reported that laws making public places smoke-free have led to rapid reductions in hospital admissions for heart attacks, but this is the only study that has looked at the effects over a longer period of three years.
Dr. Pechacek says he hopes the findings will lead to more laws banning public smoking in the U.S. as well as other countries. Although, he says a World Health Organization treaty already contains a provision requiring countries to pursue protection for non-smokers from secondhand smoke.
"These data add further weight to that provision and strongly encourage that every country around the world recognize that smoking in any enclosed space is very dangerous to the non-smokers, and one of the best things we can do for public health is encourage smoke-free policies," he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that secondhand smoke exposure causes 46,000 heart disease deaths every year in the United States alone.
美国健康专家说,禁止在公共场所吸烟的法律大幅减少了心脏病的发病率。
对美国西部科罗拉多州普韦布洛市一项禁烟活动进行研究的人员称,在这个城市实行的禁烟法已经使得因为心脏病发作而住院的人减少了百分之40。
美国疾病控制与防病中心的特里・佩哈切克医生说,这项研究显示,二手烟可能是造成心脏病死亡的原因之一,不过这一病因还没有被人们充分认识到。
他说,“长期以来,我们一直认为在餐馆、酒吧和其他场合接触二手烟是无可厚非的,但是数据显示,哪怕是短暂吸入二手烟也可能对心脏和血液功能产生迅速的破坏作用,甚至导致心脏病发作。”
科罗拉多州的普韦布洛市2003年通过了一项禁止在公共场合和工作场合吸烟的法律。研究人员说,他们发现,在禁令生效前的18个月里,这个城市因心脏病发作而住进医院的有399例。法律开始实施之后,同样在18个月中因为心脏病住院的为237例。
佩哈切克医生说,研究人员还对普韦布洛附近一些没有禁烟法的城市进行了研究。他们发现,这些地区的住院心脏病人数量没有明显变化。
“普韦布洛附近的对比城市和地区的数字没有变化,这个事实告诉我们,可能的合理假设是禁烟法是产生这个结果的重要原因。”
美国疾病控制与防病中心表示,其他研究也显示,禁止在公共场合吸烟的法律使得因心脏病发作住院的病人人数迅速减少。不过,这是针对二手烟的影响进行长达三年之久的唯一一项研究。
佩哈切克医生说,他希望这些结论将促使美国和其他国家出台更多禁止在公共场所吸烟的法律。当然,他也指出,国际卫生组织WHO早已制订出了相关条款,要求各国保护非吸烟者免受二手烟危害。
“这些数据进一步给那些条款提供了根据,而且强烈要求世界每个国家承认,在任何封闭的场所抽烟对于不吸烟的人来说是非常危险的。而我们能做到的最利于大众健康的事情就是鼓励禁烟政策。”
美国疾病控制与防病中心估计,吸入二手烟仅仅在美国每年就导致4万六千人死于心脏病。