Smoke-free air policies seem to protect
the heart
A
new study on the impact of Michigan's statewide smoking ban adds to mounting
evidence that policies prohibiting tobacco smoking in workplaces and other
public spaces may substantially improve public health by reducing heart disease
and death, according to research to be presented at the American College of
Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session.
Studies
on previous indoor smoking bans have consistently shown a major decrease in
hospital admissions for heart attacks after smoke-free laws went into effect.
Secondhand smoke exposure is associated with an estimated 50,000 deaths among
U.S. nonsmoking adults each year.
Public health officials have warned that
breathing even small amounts of secondhand smoke can cause heart damage to
healthy nonsmoking adults and may trigger heart attacks in those who are
already at risk.
To
examine the clinical impact of Michigan's smoke-free indoor air law,
researchers reviewed the Nationwide Inpatient Sample for hospitalizations from
heart attack, congestive heart failure and stroke one year before and after the
ban implementation. They found a statistically significant reduction in
cardiovascular disease and death with related hospitalizations decreasing by
2.03 percent from 65,329 to 64,002 (51.77 per 1,000 total hospitalizations to
49.54 per 1,000 total).
In-hospital
deaths also decreased from 3.91 per 100 events to 3.53 per 100 events, with
in-hospital mortality decreasing by 0.38 percent. There was a significant
reduction in hospitalizations from congestive heart failure exacerbations and
in-hospital mortality for heart attack. In addition, researchers found
non-significant reductions in heart attacks, stroke and in-hospital mortality
from congestive heart failure exacerbation and stroke.
"There
is no nationwide federal policy banning indoor smoking, even though such a
policy might improve public health and potentially reduce health care
costs," said Sourabh Aggarwal, M.D., resident physician, Department of
Internal Medicine at Western Michigan University School of Medicine, and lead
investigator of the study. "Health care can't just take place at the
individual level.
It must be multipronged, and that includes public health
policies being implemented at the highest levels."
Multiple
U.S.-based studies have documented the impact of smoke-free air laws on decreasing
heart attack rates. A 2011 study that examined the impact of Arizona's
smoke-free air law on hospital admissions for heart attacks, chest pain, stroke
and asthma found the law resulted in a statistically significant decrease in
all four conditions.
According to Aggarwal, the Michigan study is the first to
examine in-hospital mortality related to a statewide smoking ban. The next
phase of research will investigate whether or not public policies prohibiting
indoor smoking are associated with lower health care costs.
A
key limitation of this study is that researchers were unable to account or
control for other factors that may have played a role in lower event rates,
hospitalizations and in-hospital deaths.
Story Source:
The
above story is based on materials provided by American College of Cardiology.Note: Materials may be
edited for content and length.
Cite This Page:
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APA
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American College of Cardiology. "Smoke-free air policies
seem to protect the heart." Science
Daily, 27 March 2014.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140327100800.htm>.
