Although there are many cases with evidence that says that passive smoking does cause heart disease, there are organisations that say the case against passive smoking has never been properly proved. A campaigning group called ‘FOREST’ point to a study in the British medical journal. This found that the link between environmental tobacco smoke and coronary heart disease was not as strong as formally believed.
This triggered a counterargument by the anti smoking lobby pointed out that the UK governments committee on carcinogens still concluded that tobacco smoke is carcinogenic (cancer causing) and responsible for several hundred deaths a year.
Although passive smoking is damaging to your body, the risk is not as high as the risk posed by actually smoking. But the risk of developing heart disease is increased if you are exposed to tobacco smoke in the workplace or public places (such as pubs, clubs and bars ect.) then the risk of coronary heart disease is heightened by 50-60%.
People who regularly visit pubs or bars where smoking is permitted are inevitably going to breathe in a large amount of tobacco smoke. However, a survey by the anti-smoking charity ASH in 1999 found that over 3 million people were exposed to excessive amounts of tobacco smoke at work. It is also estimated that almost half of British children are exposed to tobacco smoke in there homes. One study carried out by scientists in the UK found that in households where both parents smoke, young children have a 72% increased risk of respiratory illnesses.
Although the mainstream smoke that is inhaled by the smoker is more harmful than the sidestream smoke inhaled by bystanders, most cigarettes have filters so the smoke does not effect them as much as the sidestream smoke. Recent studies suggest that passive tobacco smoke causes coronary artery disease far more often than it causes cancer. Richard N. Fogoros, M.D. estimated that, in America, passive smoke causes 3000 deaths a year from lung cancer, whilst passive smoking also causes as many as 40,000 deaths a year from heart disease related deaths.
Passive smoking or environmental tobacco smoke is classified as a class A carcinogenic and passive smoking is a key issue in the smoking ban in public/work places argument because of its long term effects on not only the smoker but the people in the surrounding area.
Coronary heart disease or coronary artery disease not only causes heart attacks; it also can lead to heart failure, which causes the heart to not be able to pump blood effectively to the rest of the body, this does not mean that the heart has stopped or is about to stop, the heart just doesn’t pump blood the way it should. Coronary artery disease can also lead to Arrhythmias. These are changes in the normal beating rhythm of the heart. This can be very serious if there is a very dramatic change.
The pro-smoking organisation FOREST I mentioned earlier in this study raise some very interesting points. They point out that surveys showed that 12 million British workers are worried about the environmental tobacco smoke in there work place but government figures show that only 3 million people are actually exposed to second hand smoke in the work place. Professor sir Richard Doll commented ‘‘the effects of other people smoking in my presence are so small it doesn't worry me.’’ Professor Dolls comment may surprise some people as there is so much evidence to show that even small amounts of second hand smoke raises the risk of heart disease by 25%. The FOREST organisation claims that the facts and data of passive smoking are greatly exaggerated by propagandists. They posted the following question to the Tompkins county health department: ‘‘on your website you claim that 63,000 people die from second hand smoke every year. Could you please name three or four or them?’’
After looking at all sides of the argument I came to the conclusion that I think there is a correlation between passive smoking and coronary heart disease. The main point that stands out as being plausible to me is that environmental tobacco smoke increases blood platelet activity causing the blood to thicken and clot. The evidence posed by FOREST is not valid in my opinion because it does not have any scientific backing and all there arguments are based on data and survey numbers instead of science. I think smoking should be banned in public places and work places because it not only affects the smoker but the people around them as well. Passive smoke intake is linked to cancer, heart attacks, coronary artery disease, coronary heart disease, heart failure, arrhythmias, atherosclerosis and respiratory illnesses.
