Dangers of Passive Smoke

[Guest guest]

Dangers of Passive Smoke JoAnn Guest Oct 24, 2005 20:05 PDT

http://www.jrussellshealth.com/smokhaz.html

 

“Secondhand smoke” - Every year in the U.S., it is estimated that 37,000

people die from heart disease acquired by inhaling other people’s smoke.

Worse yet, heart attack deaths resulting from passive smoke occur much

earlier in life than do the lung cancer deaths caused by such exposure.

 

Japanese researchers have shown that even short-term passive smoking

damages the inner lining of blood vessels, and just 30 minutes exposure

to secondhand smoke affects the lining of the heart’s coronary arteries.

 

 

In addition, they were able to link these changes to illnesses such as

death from heart attack and emphysema. So, if people living in your home

smoke, insist that they do so outdoors.

 

{Source: Journal of the American Medical Association, 2001, in the

newsletter ‘Health Gazette, October 2001}

 

Both smokers and non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke have lower

levels of folate in their blood than non-smokers, concluded the U.S.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study (Nicotine & Tobacco

Research - 2003). Even if you don’t smoke, exposure to smoke zaps your

folate blood levels, reducing your protection against birth defects and

some cancers. This finding provides biological support for recent

studies linking tobacco smoke exposure to heart disease and breast

cancer.

{“Passive smoke, folate deficiency,” Nutrition Hints - #1220, Betty

Kamen, PhD and Dr. Michael Rosenbaum, MD, June 2003}

 

 

 

 

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" Reaction to Smoke Dehabilitating " written in 1993 by June Russell,

author of this Web site:

 

These extreme reactions are lessened now, partly because of the many

years I have eliminated my exposure to secondhand smoke and other

harmful chemicals. For many years these reactions were blamed on mental

and emotional factors because these symptoms were extremely acute after

individual smokers visited my home or I attended smoke-filled rooms at a

social gathering. I was referred to a psychiatrist and encouraged to

analyze my conflicts with these individuals as well as my problems with

social settings. A great deal of emphasis was put on repressed sexual

feelings. Needless to say, this psychotherapy was wasted and I found

another doctor who looked for possible environmental causes.

 

Many times when I am exposed to passive smoke, even a small amount, I

have only mild symptoms such as nausea, breathing problems or a

headache. However, at times (and I never know when) these symptoms

progress into extreme muscle weakness, disorientation and depression.

Uncontrollable shaking and crying follow, with an inability to do the

simplest mental tasks such as figuring out where I am, where I am going,

or how to get home.

 

The toxins in passive smoke are so damaging to my system that it takes

hours and sometimes days or weeks to return to normal. Each reaction

causes a loss of recuperative ability, and regaining normal functioning

becomes a little more difficult.

 

The days that follow one of these more severe reactions are filled with

additional problems such as diarrhea, headaches, extreme fatigue,

congestion, feeling drugged and lethargic, feeling overwhelmed by simple

tasks, and increased anxiety and depression. Most of my life I was

exposed to passive smoke from a father, then my husband who smoked, as

well as the resulting toxic air from relatives, neighbors, friends, etc.

who smoked, and my brain became sensitized so that I have extreme

reactions. The fault is not mine: it was my continual exposure to a

poison by those who were unaware (or didn't care) about exposing others

to secondary smoke.

 

There are those who say, " It doesn't bother me, " but I would remind them

that every poison taken into the body takes its toll, and this

sensitization can happen to anyone who breathes passive smoke. No

warning can be strong enough. People should not expose themselves to

passive smoke - research has proven that it is deadly!

 

The Supreme Court case of June 1993, Helling vs. McKinney, has made it

clear that subjecting a person to secondhand smoke, even where the risks

are only to future health, is considered cruel and unusual punishment,

and persons have the right to sue the responsible party. It is too late

for the many hundreds of thousands who are already sensitized but the

risk can be lessened by not patronizing those places that allow

secondhand smoke and by taking steps to sue if they do.

 

Restaurants

A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association

suggests that exposure to passive smoke for a period of just 30 minutes

can damage a healthy heart by reducing the ability of heart arteries to

dilate. There are many for whom a very minor exposure, for a few

minutes, even seconds, to secondhand smoke can result in light to severe

physical, mental or emotional symptoms - either immediately or even

hours or days later. For those who say they are not affected, this study

should alert them to the dangers to their heart, and there are warnings

of the cumulative effect of such poisons.

 

Although there have been major accomplishments in the restrictions of

smoking, Americans have become complacent about their ‘right to breathe

clean air.’ In the United States, approximately 53,000 people (this

includes about 1,000 in Virginia), will die this year from the lethal

effects of secondhand smoke. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

classifies passive smoke as a ‘Class A’ carcinogen along with arsenic,

asbestos and radon.

 

Secondhand smoke contains a much higher concentration of toxic and

cancer-causing chemicals than the smoke that is inhaled by the smoker.

Only one-fourth of the smoke goes into the smoker’s body, the rest ends

up in the environment. Medical reports confirm that breathing other

people’s smoke is more than an annoyance, it is a serious health risk.

 

Those who eat at restaurants that allow smoking need to know the risks

associated with passive smoke. Separating smokers and nonsmokers within

the same airspace may reduce, but does not eliminate, the nonsmoker’s

exposure. The only way to guarantee protection for nonsmokers is to make

the entire eating space smoke-free or establish separately ventilated

smoking areas. Many ventilation systems are unable to produce an

acceptable level of air quality.

 

Restaurants that allow smoking can have as much as six times the amount

of pollution as a busy highway and contain many of the poisons that are

in toxic waste dumps. As more restaurants go smoke-free, the restaurants

that continue to allow smoking may find their number of smokers

increase, resulting in even more damage to employees and customers.

 

According to Cancer Institute, individuals who are routinely exposed to

a lot of second-hand smoke, such as workers in bars and restaurants, can

see their risk of lung cancer triple. There are no ‘safe’ levels of

passive smoke since even very small amounts can cause cancer, and even

an exposure of secondhand smoke for just 30 minutes can damage a healthy

heart according to a study in JAMA.

 

Smokers can and do refrain from smoking for periods of time, such as

going to a movie or church, so a policy that prohibits smoking for the

time they are in a restaurant should create no hardship.

 

The National Restaurant Association advises that employers could be held

responsible for workman’s compensation claims made by employees who have

adverse effects from passive smoke, and there are laws by which a

restaurant owner can be liable when their customers are exposed to

passive smoke. In a 1993 Supreme Court Case it was made clear that

subjecting a person to secondhand smoke, even when the risks are only to

future health, is considered ‘cruel and unusual’ punishment and that

individuals have the right to sue the responsible party.

 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services cautions that tobacco

companies try to convince restaurant owners that they will lose business

if they do not permit smoking, yet Dr. Stanton Glantz, an author of

scientific studies on smoke-free restaurants, says the sales tax data

shows it is can be good for business. A growing number of bingo halls,

bars, and gambling places report that participation is up since they

banned smoking, and that customer comments are overwhelmingly in favor

of their decision.

 

The public can influence restaurants to go smoke-free, or establish

separately ventilated smoking areas, if they make it clear they will not

spend money in places that jeopardize their health with polluted air.

Many restaurant owners and managers have expressed a desire to be

smoke-free, and state that it is the customer’s comments that make the

difference.

 

Although there have been improvements in restriction and banning tobacco

smoke, there are many establishments that still allow smoking, and until

their business suffers they will continue to contribute to illness and

death. It is the responsibility of individuals to put a higher priority

on their own health, and only do business in places that also put a

priority on the health of its customers.

 

 

 

 

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In reviewing the tax receipts from 1992 to 1998 from more than 1,000

dining establishments in Massachusetts, the conclusion was that smoking

bans are good for business.

{ASH - Ash Smoking and Health Review, March/April 2001}

 

Simply sitting next to a smoker in a restaurant could use up the entire

RDA of vitamin C in your body. This makes antioxidant supplementation

important.

{Stephen Sinatra, MD, author of books on " Optimum Health " and Heartbreak

and Heart Disease. " healthwell.com - July 2001}

_________________

 

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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