US study reports health benefits

AN American study into the effects of passive smoking reveals that heart attacks can be halved by a workplace ban like the one being introduced here.

The survey conducted in Helena, Montana, a city in America's north west, showed an immediate drop of 60% in cardiac arrests when a smoking ban was introduced there.

Levels outside the city remained the same and when the ban was lifted, heart attacks soared almost at once to previous levels.

The citizens of Helena voted in June 2002 to ban smoking in all public buildings including restaurants, bars and casinos.

Soon after, doctors at the local hospital noticed that heart attack admissions were dropping. In conjunction with the University of California, San Francisco, they did a study to measure the potential short-term effects of a smoking ban.

Local doctor Dr Richard Sargent said: "it led to an immediate and dramatic decline in the number of heart attacks we saw."

Heart attacks climbed back to their usual level after smoking returned, Dr Sargent told a meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Chicago.

Helena is a city with a population of 66,000, about the size of Limerick. Its isolation and the fact that it has only one cardiac care hospital within a 60-mile radius made it the perfect place for such a comprehensive survey.

The study showed two trends. First, there was no change in heart attack rates for patients who lived outside city limits. But for city residents, the rates fell by 58% in only six months.

Other studies have been made linking cardiac problems with passive smoking, but this is considered to be the most comprehensive to date.

"We know from longer-term studies that the effects of secondhand smoke occur within minutes, and that long-term exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with a 30% increased risk in heart attack rates," said Stanton Glantz, a professor of medicine who conducted the study's statistical analysis.

"But it was quite stunning to document this large an effect so quickly." However, after the findings, the Montana State Legislature, under pressure from the Montana Tavern Association and tobacco lobbyists, rescinded the ban.

Heart attack rates then rose almost as quickly as they dropped. Dr Richard Sargent, one of the study's authors, points out that eight hours of working in a smoky bar is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.

In such an environment, other studies have shown, workers more than double their chances of developing cancer and asthma, and pregnant workers put themselves at risk of miscarriage and premature delivery.

If the ban being introduced early next year, produces similar results as those achieved in Montana, it could bring about a dramatic improvement in cardiovascular health here. Ireland has one of the highest incidence of heart attacks in the world.

The World Heart Federation says passive smoking is a proven cause of cardiovascular disease, increasing the coronary death rate among non-smokers by up to 70%, as well as significantly increasing the risk of stroke.