|
Raleigh, NC-- New information released by
officials at the state's public health division said the 2010 mandated
smoke free law is having a positive impact.
According to the study, emergency room
visits by people experiencing heart attacks, in North Carolina, have
declined by 21 percent since January 2010. That's when the state
instituted a smoke-free law for restaurants and bars statewide.
State Health Director, Dr. Jeffrey
Engel, reported the results to the Justus-Warren Heart Disease and
Stroke Prevention Task Force this morning.
Governor Perdue said this about
the report: "We pushed for passage of this law because we
knew it would save lives," said Governor Bev Perdue, who signed
the law into effect. "Our goal was to protect workers and patrons
from breathing secondhand smoke and we are seeing positive
results."
Engel reported that the decline in
heart attacks in North Carolina in 2010 represents an estimated $3.3
to $4.8 million in health care cost savings. Secondhand smoke is a
known trigger for other health conditions like asthma, stroke, and
chest pain, and is a major risk factor for lung cancer, the state's
leading cancer killer.
Click
here to read the full report.
A team of researchers from the Division
of Public Health and the University of North Carolina Department of
Emergency Medicine used statewide emergency department data from the
North Carolina Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiologic Collection
Tool (NCDETECT) to examine rates of heart attacks before the law in
2008 and 2009 compared to rates after the law took effect in 2010.
These results add to a growing number of studies documenting the
health benefits of smoke-free legislation across the nation and the
world.
The NC Division of Public Health report
cites studies from numerous communities, states and countries that
show similar declines in heart attack rates after enacting
tobacco-free policies as well as a 2008 Institute of Medicine report
concluding smoke-free laws are a proven way to decrease heart attack
rates.
"North Carolina's experience in
seeing reduced heart attack rates after implementation of smoke-free
legislation is consistent with others that have taken this important
step to enhance the population's health," Dr. David Goff of the
Justus Warren Heart Disease and Stroke Task Force said. "Informed
by this strong evidence, we should now act to protect all workers in
North Carolina, not just those working in restaurants and bars, from
the hazards of second hand smoke."
"The Institute of Medicine has
evaluated the effects of indoor smoking bans world-wide, and data
consistently show that smoke-free laws reduce heart attacks," Dr.
Engel said. "The Centers for Disease Control acknowledges that
secondhand smoke exposure causes heart attacks; even a brief stay in a
smoky area can trigger a heart attack in someone who is at risk, such
as those with heart disease, a family history of heart disease, high
blood pressure, or high cholesterol."
NC Department of Public Health
Original
article located at:
http://www.digtriad.com/news/health/article/198408/8/NC-Heart-Attack-Rates-Down-Since-Smoke-Free-Law
 |
