World Heart Federation And Experts State: Secondhand Smoke Is Hazardous To The Heart

Main Category: Heart Disease
Also Included In: Cardiovascular / Cardiology;  Smoking / Quit Smoking
Article Date: 17 Jun 2010 - 2:00 PST

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Joined by domestic and international cardiologists and public health experts, the World Heart Federation issued a statement at the World Congress of Cardiology Scientific Sessions 2010 (WCC 2010): secondhand smoke (SHS) is highly hazardous to heart health. Comprehensive smokefree laws can rapidly and substantially reduce SHS exposure and improve heart health.

SHS not only causes heart disease, but also triggers heart attacks. SHS increases the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in nonsmokers by 25% to 30%. CHD risk rises steeply at even lower levels of SHS exposure. SHS exposure can increase the severity of heart attacks, and is associated with a worse prognosis for heart attack survivors, including increased risk of recurrence and death.

"Tobacco is among the world's most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Both cardiovascular disease and tobacco use are on the rise in low- and middle-income countries. Secondhand smoke contributes significantly to this risk," said Dr. Srinath Reddy, Chairman of the Foundations' Advisory Board of the World Heart Federation. "However, some good news is that hazards of secondhand smoke are preventable. Eliminating smoking in indoor public places and work places can effectively prevent heart disease and improve heart health."

"Approximately 3,200,000 Chinese die from cardiovascular disease every year. However, many Chinese are not aware of the fact that secondhand smoke is highly hazardous to heart health. The effect of quitting and staying away from smoking by cardiovascular patients is comparable to that of any clinical treatment, or even better," added Dr. Changsheng Ma, Director of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Beijing Anzhen Hospital of the Capital University of Medical Sciences.

The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) calls on countries to adopt smokefree legislation to protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke exposure in indoor workplace, public places, public transport, and, as appropriate, other public places.

Dr. Douglas Bettcher, Director of the World Health Organization's Tobacco Free Initiative, pointed out that "exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke causes about 600,000 premature deaths per year worldwide. The only effective way to save these lives and to create healthier communities is to enact and enforce comprehensive smoke-free laws that cover all indoor workplaces and public places, as required by the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Seven more countries recently adopted comprehensive smoke-free laws, bringing to 17 the total that successfully protect their citizens from exposure to tobacco smoke. Ireland, Uruguay, Turkey, New Zealand and Zambia are among the leaders of smoke-free environments. We hope China can join them soon!"

It has been found in a variety of cities, states, regions, and countries that smokefree laws were followed by a rapid and substantial reduction in hospitalization for heart attack. Two recently published reviews estimated that smokefree laws result in an 8% to 17% reduction in heart attack hospitalization in the first year after implementation. Another study estimated that a state smokefree law in New York generated $56 million in savings in hospital treatment costs savings for heart attacks in one year. In addition, after conducting an extensive review of these studies and other scientific evidence, the United States Institute of Medicine issued a report in October 2009 which concluded that smokefree laws cause a decrease in acute coronary events.

Professor Gonghuan Yang, Deputy Director of the China CDC, commented, "China has made considerable efforts in building a smokefree environment; however, in over a decade, there has been little change to the level of exposure to secondhand smoke. China is still far from what FCTC requires. Exposure in public places such as restaurants, bars, and even offices remains seriously high."

"Smoking and secondhand smoke exposure threaten the health of 900 million Chinese," added Yiqun Wu of ThinkTank, a Beijing-based health advocacy organization. "Some cities have passed smokefree legislation, but unfortunately, they allow smoking rooms and areas. The most effective way to protect the public from secondhand smoke is comprehensive smokefree laws, and ventilation, or separation of smoking and nonsmoking areas can not prevent the harmful effects. We hope China will speed up the process of smokefree legislation both at the sub-national and national level."

Source
World Heart Federation

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