Mission Statement

The mission of re:TH!NK, the Lakeshore Tobacco Prevention Network, is to improve the health of our residents by reducing tobacco use and exposure through prevention strategies which include community outreach and involvement to move policy forward collaboratively, across our multi-jurisdictional area.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Report on Impact of Smoking Bans on Heart Attacks

The Institute of Medicine recently released a report confirming evidence that exposure to secondhand smoke increases the risk of heart disease. Additionally, scientific evidence suggests that smokefree laws prevent heart attacks and save lives.

In its 2009 report, Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Cardiovascular Effects: Making Sense of the Evidence, the committee concludes that data consistently demonstrates that secondhand-smoke exposure increases the risk of coronary heart disease and heart attacks and that smoking bans reduce this risk. Given the prevalence of heart attacks, and the resultant deaths, smoking bans can have a substantial impact on public health.

Another article that describes two of the studies that were in the report (one report from Circulation and one from the Journal of the American College of Cardiology) can be found here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8267523.stm

ONLY 242 days until Wisconsin goes SMOKE-FREE!

happy breathing,
emily

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