Smoking Bans Slashing Hospital Admissions
Arizona Latest Studies Show
How Smoking Bans Save Lives

By Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
Dated: May 21, 2010
Bans on smoking in public places are saving lives, as well as money, by slashing hospital admissions from
a wide variety of diseases; a phenomena just documented in Arizona where the state's indoor smoking ban
slashed admissions by as much as 33%.
Bans on smoking in public places are saving lives, as well as money, by slashing hospital admissions from
a wide variety of diseases; a phenomena just documented in Arizona where the state's indoor smoking ban
slashed admissions by as much as 33%, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, Executive Director
of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the national organization which started the movement to restrict
and subsequently ban smoking in public places.

The just-release study showed that Arizona's smoking ban reduced hospital admissions for unstable angina
by 33%, by 22% for asthma, 14% for acute strokes, and 13% for AMI (acute myocardial infarction). All of
these are major -- and sometimes deadly -- medical conditions, and all can be very expensive to treat, both
in the initial hospital admission, and also in the longer term care if the patient survives, says Banzhaf,
noting that much of this cost is paid by nonsmokers in the form of higher taxes or inflated health insurance
premiums.

"As the federal government has warned, breathing even small amounts of drifting tobacco smoke while
seated in the no-smoking section of a restaurant can trigger a fatal heart attack in a nonsmoker in as little as
30 minutes," notes Banzhaf. This warning, and many other studies, are reported at: http://
ash.org/30minutes

Indeed, exposure to secondhand smoke for as little as 30 minutes can increase a nonsmokers' risk of a heart
attack to virtually that of a smoker, especially for those already at heightened risk. This includes men over
40, post-menopausal women, those who are obese or don't get enough exercise or have high blood pressure
or high cholesterol or diabetes, and/or a personal or family history of cardiovascular problems.

The most recent study from Arizona reinforces the findings of many similar studies from other
jurisdictions which likewise show large -- often double digit -- declines in hospital admission rates as a
direct result of legislated smoking bans. These studies have documented the sharp decline in hospital
admissions in locations like: Helena, MO, Pueblo, CO, NY, Piedmont, Italy, Ireland, and Scotland.

"It's now overwhelmingly clear that the deadly risks of inhaling secondhand tobacco smoke are real and
not simply statistical, and that bans on smoking in public places -- including restaurants and bars -- reduce
medical problems and hospital admissions, saving both lives and money," says Prof. Banzhaf.

PROFESSOR JOHN F. BANZHAF III
Professor of Public Interest Law at GWU,
FAMRI Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor,
FELLOW, World Technology Network, and
Executive Director and Chief Counsel
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
America’s First Antismoking Organization
2013 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006, USA
(202) 659-4310 // (703) 527-8418
http:// ash.org/

Featured Angina| Acute Coronary Syndrome and Heart Disease Interviews

Author Interview: Claes Held MD Associate professor at Uppsala Clinical Research Center and the Cardiology department at Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden Publication: Physical activity levels, ownership of goods promoting sedentary behaviour and risk of myocardial infarction: results of the INTERHEART study Eur Heart J first published online January 11, 2012 doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehr432 2012 doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehr432 Claes Held, Romaina Iqbal, Scott A. Lear, Annika Rosengren, Shofiqul Islam,James Mathew, and Salim Yusuf What are the main findings of the study? The main findings are he following: It is well known that physical inactivity is a risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease. Our study shows that being physically active reduces the risk of having a heart attack. Older studies have mostly studied people in the developed countries. This study which has a global perspective and includes 52 countries from all continents, shows that physical inactivity reduces the risk also in both low- middle-and high-income countries. We also found that ownership of a car and TV was associated with a more than doubled risk of being sedentary and that in low- and middle income the risk for a heart attack was increased with 27 %. We can however, not conclude from this study that there is a causal relationship but it is an interesting finding.     Were any of the findings unexpected? We looked at the relationship between physical activity both at work and during leisure time. A bit surprising was that people with heavy physical labor did not have a reduction in the risk of heart attacks, whereas people with both mild and moderate intensity did. What should clinicians and patients take away from this study? The main findings above and also that physical activity with duration below the recommended 30 minutes/day does seem to prevent from heart attacks as well although not as much as when you do it according to guidelines. This may be a comfort to those who are completely sedentary and feel that it would be a too big step to move to the 30 minutes/day right away. All PA does a good job for the heart as compared to not doing anything at all!   What recommendations do you have for cardiology health care providers as a result of your study? It would be interesting to follow up on the ownership of car and TV and do a prospective study to see if the theory holds true. More Author Interview from Angina.com More on Exercise and Heart Disease More on Heart Attack Studies   3M Littmann Master Classic II Stethoscope

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