The Lie That Secondhand Smoke Causes Heart Disease

The Lie That Secondhand Smoke Causes
Heart Disease
Corrupt Charlatans at the Institute of Medicine Based
Their Fraudulent Report on Deliberate Concealment of
the Evidence!
They performed no new studies, and merely uncritically regurgitated "published and
unpublished data and testimony on the relationship between secondhand smoke and
short-term and long-term heart problems." They ignored the CDC and other data on
death rates which shows no discernable effect of smoking bans, and which
furthermore reveals that the authors of the anti-smoking studies cynically
cherry-picked their study periods and control populations. This data is freely
accessible to the public, AND TO THE MEDIA, WHO UNQUESTIONINGLY PARROT
THEIR FLAGRANT LIES AS TRUTH. (Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Cardiovascular
Effects: Making Sense of the Evidence. National Academies Press, 2009.)
Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Cardiovascular Effects / NAP 2009 Press Release
These vermin are corrupt ideologues, not scientists, because they refuse
to examine any evidence which does not support their preordained
conclusions and their totalitarian social engineering agenda. In fact,
they are the exact OPPOSITE of real scientists, and perfect examples of
lying PROSTITUTES in the service of POLITICIANS.
Workplace Smoking Bans Don't Reduce Heart Disease
Death Rates
The four states which banned smoking in most workplaces during 2002-2003 did not
experience dramatic drops in the rate of death from acute myocardial infarction during
the year after their smoking bans were implemented. They also have not experienced
greater declines in death rates from acute myocardial infarction than the rest of the
United States. Connecticut banned smoking in the workplace, including restaurants and
bars, but exempting casinos and private clubs, as of Oct. 1, 2003. Delaware banned
smoking in all public buildings and workplaces including bars, restaurants, and casinos,
as of Nov. 27, 2003. Florida banned smoking in the workplace (including all restaurants),
with stand-alone bars and smoking rooms in hotels exempt, as of July 1, 2003. South
Dakota banned smoking in most workplaces, except bars and casinos, in July 2002.
The Lie That Secondhand Smoke Causes Heart Di... http://www.smokershistory.com/etsheart.html
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CDC Data File, Acute Myocardial Infarction, State of Connecticut, 1999-2005
CDC Data File, Acute Myocardial Infarction, State of Delaware, 1999-2005
CDC Data File, Acute Myocardial Infarction, State of Florida, 1999-2005
CDC Data File, Acute Myocardial Infarction, State of South Dakota, 1999-2005
CDC Data File, Acute Myocardial Infarction, United States (minus 4), 1999-2005
The Massachusetts Smoking Ban Study
The anti-smokers claimed that, "The study, conducted by the state Department of Public
Health and the Harvard School of Public Health, shows that a steep decline in heart attack
deaths started as Boston and most of its neighbors adopted bans. Enforcement of the
statewide law beginning in mid-2004 coincided with a further reduction, the study found.
From 2003 to 2006, heart attack deaths in Massachusetts plummeted 30 percent,
significantly accelerating what had been a more modest long-term decline." Dr. Michael
Siegel, a phony critic of the anti-smokers who doesn't tell the rest of the story, claimed
that "You can no longer argue that these declines would have occurred simply due to
medical treatment." (Smoking ban tied to a gain in lives. By Stephen Smith. Boston Globe,
Nov. 12, 2008.) Boston, Watertown, Saugus and Framingham banned smoking in May
2003. In Boston, it was banned everywhere but outdoors and in private homes, hotel
rooms and some cigar bars. Cambridge banned smoking in all workplaces, including bars
and restaurants, including all bars and restaurants, on June 9, 2003.
"'When we looked at the data, we saw a dramatic drop in heart attack deaths beginning in
July, 2005 a year after the workplace smoking ban went into eect. While there may be
several factors that played a role in this decline, we believe the single most compelling
reason was reduced exposure to secondhand smoke in workplaces across the state,' DPH
Commissioner John Auerbach said." They promised that the study would be published
early next year with estimates of the cost savings [sic] to the Massachusetts health care
system. (Massachusetts Sees Fewer Heart Attack Deaths Since Implementation of
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Smoke-Free Workplace Law. Press Release, Massachusetts Department of Public Health,
Nov. 12, 2008.)
In 1999, the age-adjusted death rate from acute myocardial infarction in the United States
(minus four states which had statewide workplace bans prior to 2004) was 73.2 per 100k,
and in 2005 it was 49.1. In Massachusetts. the respective rates were 60.8 and 41.2.
Thus, in 2005, the death rate from AMI in the US (minus states that had
statewide workplace bans) was at 67.1% of its former level, while in
Massachusetts it was at 67.8% of its former level. So, the rate of decline in AMI death
rates in Massachusetts since 1999 was no different from that of the rest of the United
States as of 2005, the year after the smoking ban took effect.
CDC Data File, Acute Myocardial Infarction, State of Massachusetts, 1999-2005
The Pueblo, Colorado Smoking Ban Heart Attack Study
They don't even know if patients were exposed to either active or secondhand
smoke, nor whether they even went to a bar. Furthermore:
"A critical piece of information is omitted from both the Pueblo Health Department press
release and from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids press release: that the expected
number of heart attacks during the six-month period preceding the Pueblo smoking ban is
substantially higher than the expected number of heart attacks during the six-month
period after the Pueblo smoking ban. The reason for this is that the six-month period
preceding the Pueblo smoking ban includes the winter months, while the six-month period
following the Pueblo ban includes the summer months, and heart attack admissions during
the winter have been shown to be substantially higher than during the summer. Since
there were two winters and only one summer in the 18-month baseline period (before the
smoking ban in Pueblo) and only one winter but two summers in the follow-up period
(after the smoking ban), one would expect to see a decrease in the number of reported
heart attacks, even in the absence of a smoking ban. In fact, there are 53% more cases of
acute myocardial infarction (heart attacks) during the winter compared to the summer
(see: Spencer FA, Goldberg RJ, Becker RC. Seasonal distribution of acute myocardial
infarction in the Second National Registry of Myocardial Infarction. Journal of the
American College of Cardiology 1998; 31:1226-1233). In the Mountain region of the
country (which includes Colorado), there are 50.3% more heart attacks during the winter
than the summer." (New Study Links Smoke-Free Ordinances to Fewer Heart Attacks. The
Pueblo City-County Health Department. PR Newswire, Nov. 14, 2005; Premature
Conclusions from Pueblo: More Information and More Research Needed Before Taking this
to the Public. By Michael Siegel. Nov. 19, 2005.) This is a good reason to look at the data
for twelve-month periods.
Pueblo City-County Health Department, Nov. 14, 2005 / PR Newswire
"Dr. Donald Lavan, a cardiologist at the University of Pennsylvania and a heart association
spokesman, called the study preliminary but important. 'We know that when people stop
smoking, we start to see improvements in six months for the individual,' but this study
shows the benefit to the community as well, he said. 'It reaffirms the fact that secondhand
smoke is deleterious to all people,' Lavan said." (Study: Heart Attacks Drop With Smoking
Ban. Nov. 14, 2005 (AP).
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The study was finally published in late 2006. (Reduction in the incidence of acute
myocardial infarction associated with a citywide smoking ordinance. C Bartecchi, RN
Alsever, C Nevin-Woods, WM Thomas, RO Estacio, BB Bartelson, MJ Krantz. Circulation
2006 Oct 3;114(14):1490-6.) The decitful title lies that the smoking ban reduced the
incidence of acute myocardial infarctions, when they only determined there was a
reduction in hospital admissions under that diagnosis. Hospital admissions in fact are a
matter of hospital admission policies, which are entirely under the [anti-smoker] doctors'
control. The only thing necessary to achieve a "reduction" in admissions (without
compromising patient survival) is to deliberately admit patients too freely in the period
before the ban, then go back to a more restrictive admission policy afterward. However,
there is probable cause to suspect that patients' health was sacrificed, because the death
rates from AMI rose during the period after the ban.
Bartecchi / Circulation 2006 full article
Heart Disease Death Rates in Pueblo County versus El Paso County
Death rates from acute myocardial infarction in Pueblo County increased
the year after the ban.
The smoking ban in the city of Pueblo began in July 2003. The anti-smokers compared the
rates of hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction during the 18-month period before
the ban, beginning in January 2002, with the 18-month period after the ban began,
ending in December 2004; and added a second follow-up from January 2005 to June 2006.
They also compared it with the larger, ban-free neighboring county of El Paso, whose
largest city is Colorado Springs. In contrast to their boasts of reduced hospitalizations for
acute MI with false implications of a rapid improvement in public health, in Pueblo County
the death rates from AMI rose from 36.9 in 2002 to 43.9 per 100,000 in 2004, while
declining slightly in El Paso County, where there was no ban either in its largest city or
anywhere within the county. About two-thirds of the approximately 150,000 people in
Pueblo County live in the City of Pueblo.
Deaths from all ischemic heart
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disease are predominantly due
to chronic IHD, with acute
myocardial infarctions in
second place. There were 831
deaths from chronic ischemic
heart disease and 490 deaths
from AMI in Pueblo County
from 1999 to 2005; and 2159
deaths from chronic IHD and
848 from AMI in El Paso
County during the same period.
The seven-year average of
death rates from all IHD of the
two adjoining counties are
remarkably similar, 110.9 and
113.9 (age-adjusted) respectively, despite 22.6% smokers in Pueblo County versus 17.7%
smokers in El Paso County. (CDC Compressed Mortality File 1999-2005,
http://wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd10.html.)
CDC Data File, Acute Myocardial Infarction, El Paso County CO, 1999-2005
CDC Data File, Acute Myocardial Infarction, Pueblo County CO, 1999-2005
CDC Data File, Acute Myocardial Infarction, State of Colorado, 1999-2005
On Jan. 2, 2009, the anti-smokers iniated a new barrage of propaganda with the extended
analysis (Reduced Hospitalizations for Acute Myocardial Infarction After Implementation
of a Smoke-Free Ordinance --- City of Pueblo, Colorado, 2002--2006. Reported by: RN
Alsever, MD, Parkview Medical Center; WM Thomas, PhD, St. Mary-Corwin Medical
Center; C Nevin-Woods, DO, R Beauvais, S Dennison, R Bueno, Pueblo City-County Health
Dept; L Chang, PhD, Colorado State Univ-Pueblo; CE Bartecchi, MD, Univ of Colorado
School of Medicine. S Babb, MPH, A Trosclair, MS, M Engstrom, MS, T Pechacek, PhD, R
Kaufmann, PhD, Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC. MMWR Weekly 2009 Jan 2;57(51)1373-1377). An
editorial proclaimed that "These findings provide support for considering smoke-free
policies an important component of interventions to prevent heart disease morbidity and
mortality." Obviously, this is a delieberate lie, because the CDC sits upon the pile of data
which proves otherwise.
Alsever et al. / MMWR 2009 full article
No Net Reduction of Ischemic Heart Disease Deaths in Greeley, Either
The reporter from the Rocky Mountain News burbled that, "Like Pueblo, in 2003, Greeley
banned smoking in restaurants, bars, businesses and other places where people gather.
Several cities, including Greeley, found that heart attacks went down in the 18 months
after a smoking ban began. The number of heart attacks in Greeley, for example, dropped
by 16 percent in Greeley, according to the University of Colorado Health Sciences study."
(Study links smoking bans, heart attack rate. By Bill Scanlon. Rocky Mountain News, Jan.
2, 2009.)
In Greeley, Weld County, Colorado, a smoking ban was enacted in December 2003. The
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age-adjusted death rates from all ischemic heart disease had declined since 1999 and
reached a low of 115.9 per 100,000 in 2003, then rose slightly to 124.6 in 2005. The
death rates of chronic ischemic heart disease and acute myocardial infarction both fell
until 2002, then sharply diverged in 2003. AMI death rates remained stable, while CHD
death rates rose. During 1999-2002, the death rates from AMI and CHD had been
approximately equal, but by 2005 the death rates from CHD were more than twice those
of AMI. So, there has been no miraculous reduction in heart disease deaths in Greeley
after all. (Data source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for
Health Statistics. Compressed Mortality File 1999-2005. CDC WONDER On-line Database,
compiled from Compressed Mortality File 1999-2005 Series 20 No. 2K, 2008. Accessed at
http://wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd10.html on Jan. 3, 2009.)
CDC Data File, Acute Myocardial Infarction, Weld County CO, 1999-2005
CDC Data File, Chronic Ischemic Heart Disease, Weld County CO, 1999-2005
The Helena, Montana Smoking Ban Heart Attack Study
This study was recycled from over a year before, and it is garbage because they
don't even know if patients were exposed to secondhand smoke, nor whether they
even spent any appreciable time in a smoke-free workplace (most heart attack
victims are over 65 years of age)
Reduced incidence of admissions for myocardial infarction associated with public smoking
ban: before and after study. Richard P. Sargent, Robert M. Shepard, Stanton A. Glantz.
BMJ 2004 Apr 24;328:977-980. Glantz's two co-authors were attending physicians at St
Peter's Community Hospital in Helena, Montana, "a geographically isolated community
with one hospital serving a population of 68 140." "The attending physician made the
diagnosis at the time of discharge, and the hospital billing staff assigned the codes. (Two
of the authors (RPS and RMS) were attending physicians for 18 of the 304 admissions
included in this study and so assigned the diagnosis." [So, two of the authors were in a
position to directly influence the admission rates. And the isolation they cite as a
study strength makes collusion with others likely -cast] They admit that "We did not
make any direct observations to measure how much exposure to secondhand smoke was
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reduced during the months when the law was in force. We do not know the prevalence of
smoking in venues covered by ban, though the city-county health department reported
that all but two businesses complied."
Sargent - BMJ 2004 full article / PubMed Central
(Mont. Smoking Ban Cuts Heart Attacks. By Daniel Q. Haney, AP Medical Editor aka
corrupt anti-smokers' whore. DATE: APRIL 1, 2003. [<= HINT: April Fool's Day.])
"Sargent, who with co-author Dr. Robert Shepard encouraged passage of the
ordinance, presented the data Tuesday to applause at the annual scientific meeting in
Chicago of the American College of Cardiology." They were presumably applauded for
their willingness to commit fraud.
Mont. Smoking Ban Cuts Heart Attacks / CigOutlet.net
Even veteran anti-smokers such as G.C. Kabat reject this study. (Effect of Public Smoking
Ban in Helena, Montana. Geoffrey C. Kabat. BMJ 2004 Jun 5;328(7452):1379.) "Firstly,
the researchers had no information on whether exposure to second hand smoke changed
as a result of the ban. They also did not present any information on whether smoking
habits were affected by the ban. If the study was concerned to isolate an effect of second
hand tobacco smoke, it should have been restricted to the 33% of the study population
who were never smokers.... Finally, the "immediate effect" should make anyone stop and
question the connection the authors are asserting. There are few interventions in public
health that have such an immediate impact. Even if all active smokers in Helena had quit
smoking for at least a year, one would not expect to see such a dramatic effect. The
attempt to make claims about the effects of smoking bans based on this very weak
ecological study raises disturbing questions about our ability to distinguish between
sound science and wishful thinking." [This last is an understatement. The publication of a
study such as this merely proves the willingness of anti-smokers in general and the
British Medical Journal in particular to indulge in scientific fraud and misrepresentation,
in order to push their political agenda -cast]
Kabat / BMJ 2004 full article
Heart Disease Death Rates in Lewis and Clark County, Montana
The Helena study "compared the number of admissions during the six months the law was
in effect (in 2002) with the average number of admissions during the same six months in
the years before (1998-2001) and after (2003) the law," with 304 cases altogether. They
claimed that "During the six months the law was enforced the number of admissions fell
significantly (- 16 admissions, 95% confidence interval - 31.7 to - 0.3), from an average of
40 admissions during the same months in the years before and after the law to a total of
24 admissions during the six months the law was effect." Smoking was banned in Helena,
Montana, from June 5, 2002, to December 3, 2002. But, death rates from acute
myocardial infarction were nearly identical in 2001 and 2002, and reached their
lowest point in 2003, the year after the smoking ban was repealed.
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CDC Data File, Acute Myocardial Infarction, Lewis and Clark County MT, 1999-2005
CDC Data File, Acute Myocardial Infarction, State of Montana, 1999-2005
The New York State Smoking Ban Study
"New York State enacted limited statewide smoking restrictions in 1989. The restrictions
limited or prohibited smoking in many public places including schools, hospitals, public
buildings, and retail stores. Employers were required to develop smoking policies and
provide smoke-free work areas upon employee request. Larger restaurants were required
to establish nonsmoking sections. Countywide smoking restrictions began in 1995 when
Suffolk County and the 5 New York City counties implemented laws that restricted
smoking in restaurants. By 2002, 75% of New Yorkers were subject to local smoking
restrictions that were stronger than the state law. Many of these local laws completely
banned smoking in workplaces and some expanded restrictions on smoking in restaurants.
None limited smoking in bars. On July 24, 2003, New York implemented a statewide
comprehensive smoking ban that prohibited smoking in all workplaces including
restaurants and bars. After implementation of the statewide law, population exposure to
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environmental tobacco smoke declined nearly 50%. Cotinine levels in the saliva from a
representative sample of New York State adults, declined from 0.078 ng/mL to 0.041
ng/mL. Nassau County and New York City implemented similar comprehensive bans in
March 2003." They claimed that "In 2004, there were 3813 fewer hospital admissions for
acute myocardial infarction than would have been expected in the absence of the
comprehensive smoking ban. Direct health care cost savings of $56 million were realized
in 2004." Specific details about patient smoking status or exposure to environmental
tobacco smoke were not known. (Declines in Hospital Admissions for Acute Myocardial
Infarction in New York State After Implementation of a Comprehensive Smoking Ban. HR
Juster, BR Loomis, TM Hinman, MC Farrelly, A Hyland, UE Bauer, GS Birkhead. Am J
Public Health 2007 Nov;97(11):2035-2039.)
Juster - Am J Public Health 2007 abstract / PubMed
Juster - Am J Public Health 2007 full article / Medscape
Heart Disease Death Rates in New York
Differences in the death rates from acute myocardial infarction between New York City
and the rest of the state (minus the five boroughs of New York City, which are coextensive
with five counties, and Suffolk and Nassau Counties) were smaller before the draconian
ban on all indoor smoking was imposed on the entire state.
New York City's death rates from chronic ischemic heart disease are much higher than
those of the rest of the state (minus the seven counties), and chronic IHD deaths, not
acute myocardial infarctions, are the largest component of all ischemic heart disease
deaths.
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New York City's death rates from all ischemic heart disease have likewise been higher
than those in the rest of the state; and, despite New York City's embrace of smoking bans,
the gap has widened.
The Indiana Smoking Ban Study
The anti-smokers exploited an anomalous spike in AMI death rates.
In all years from 1999 to 2005 except 2001, the death rates from acute myocardial
infarction in Monroe County were somewhat lower than in Delaware County. In 2001,
there was an anomalous spike in the AMI death rates in Monroe County. They rose from
58.7 to 77.9 per 100,000, then fell in 2002. The pre-ban study period was from Aug. 2001
to May 2003, and likely included extra admissions during the spike. These inflated heart
attack admission rates in the pre-ban period were compared with the post-ban period from
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Aug. 2003 to May 2005. Delaware County and Monroe County have experienced nearly
identical slight declines in their AMI death rates from 2003 to 2005.
CDC Data File, Acute Myocardial Infarction, Delaware County IN, 1999-2005
CDC Data File, Acute Myocardial Infarction, Monroe County IN, 1999-2005
CDC Data File, Acute Myocardial Infarction, State of Indiana, 1999-2005
(Reduced admissions for acute myocardial infarction associated with a public smoking
ban: matched controlled study. DC Seo, MR Torabi. J Drug Educ 2007;37(3):217-226.)
Seo & Torabi - J Drug Educ 2007 abstract / PubMed
Seo & Torabi - J Drug Educ 2007 full article / Tobacco Technical Assistance Consortium
(pdf, 10 pp)
The Ohio Smoking Ban Study
The anti-smokers used a non-typical county for comparison.
The anti-smokers claimed that rates of hospitalization for angina, heart failure,
atherosclerosis and acute myocardial infarction in Bowling Green, Ohio, significantly
declined from 2002 to the first half of 2005, while those in Kent, Ohio did not significantly
change. However, Portage County (Kent) had lower death rates from all ischemic heart
disease to begin with, and the decline in Wood County (Bowling Green) was nearly
identical to the decline in the state as a whole, which had no statewide ban. (The impact
of a smoking ban on hospital admissions for coronary heart disease. SA Khuder, S Milz, T
Jordan, J Price, K Silvestri, P Butler. Prev Med 2007 Jul;45(1):3-8.)
Khuder - Prev Med 2007 abstract / PubMed
Review of Khuder et al / ProCor
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CDC Data File, All Ischemic Heart Disease, Portage County OH, 1999-2005
CDC Data File, All Ischemic Heart Disease, Wood County OH, 1999-2005
CDC Data File, All Ischemic Heart Disease, State of Ohio, 1999-2005
The Scottish Smoking Ban Acute Coronary Syndrome
Study
The anti-smokers compared the number of hospital admissions for acute coronary
syndrome during a ten-month period following the ban on indoor smoking in public places
in Scotland, with the ten-month period preceding the ban. They crowed that "the number
of admissions for acute coronary syndrome decreased from 3235 to 2684 a 17%
reduction (95% confidence interval, 16 to 18) as compared with a 4% reduction in
England (which has no such legislation) during the same period and a mean annual
decrease of 3% (maximum decrease, 9%) in Scotland during the decade preceding the
study." They and their media propaganda organs ballyhooed it as proof that smoking bans
saved lives. (Smoke-free legislation and hospitalizations for acute coronary syndrome. JP
Pell, S Haw, S Cobbe, DE Newby, AC Pell, C Fischbacher, A McConnachie, S Pringle, D
Murdoch, F Dunn, K Oldroyd, P Macintyre, B O'Rourke, W Borland. N Engl J Med 2008
Jul 31;359(5):482-491.)
Pell - N Engl J Med 2008 abstract / PubMed
But a few months after the end of their study period, the number of
hospital admissions for acute coronary syndrome sharply increased!
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The increase in the number of admissions for acute coronary syndrome was not
paralleled by increases in the numbers of admissions for acute myocardial
infarction or stroke, which continued their long-term decline.
Seasonally identical 12-month periods ACS AMI Stroke All
Apr-05 to Mar-06 7899 8300 7896 24095
Apr-06 to Mar-07 7264 7764 7843 22871
Apr-07 to Mar-08 8926 7286 7569 23781
Hospital Activity. AC5 - Emergency admission: heart attack/angina/stroke, by NHS board,
2005-2008 (by month). Information Services, NHS National Services Scotland.
Emergency admission: heart attack/angina/stroke / ISD Scotland (xls)
Coronary Heart Disease. Full List of Tables. Information Services, NHS National Services
Scotland. Page last updated: 25-NOV-2008.
Coronary Heart Disease / ISD Scotland
The Irish Smoking Ban Study
(Impact of a national smoking ban on the rate of admissions to hospital with acute
coronary syndromes. E Cronin, P Kearney, P Sullivan. Presented at the annual scientific
symposium of the European Society of Cardiology, 2007. Citation: European Heart Journal
2007;28(Abstract Supplement):585.)
Purpose: A ban on smoking in public places was introduced in Ireland on the 29th of
March 2004. As both active and passive smoking are risk factors for coronary
atherosclerosis, this might be expected to lead to a decrease in the number of patients
presenting with acute coronary syndromes (ACS).
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Methods: We analysed data collected in a continuous registry of all patients admitted to
hospital with ACS in the south-western region, catchment population 620,525, to
ascertain whether the ban has led to a decrease in the number of presentations to hospital
with ACS.
Results: In the year ending 28th March 2004, there were 1277 admissions with ACS. In
the year 29/03/2004 to 28/03/2005 there were 1092 admissions with ACS. This represents
an absolute decline of 185, or 14.5%. The absolute decline was similar in males and
females (15.6% and 12.0% respectively), but greater in smokers than in non-smokers
(22.8% vs. 10.46%). The results are not accounted for by trends in hospital admissions
with ACS in the preceding nine months.
Conclusions: A national ban on smoking in public places resulted in a decrease in
admissions for ACS, especially in smokers. Our study provides evidence of the rapid effect
of banning smoking in public places on decreasing the burden of ACS."
Search page / European Society of Cardiology
The lie-spewing media breathlessly proclaimed that "More than 17,000 heart attacks
could be prevented in the UK after smoking in public places was banned, a conference
heard yesterday. It could mean one in seven of the 123,000 heart attacks annually across
the UK could be prevented if the results were replicated." Dr Edmond Cronin, of Cork
University Hospital in Ireland, lied outright: "A national ban on smoking in public places
resulted in a decrease in admissions for heart attack, especially in smokers. Our study
provides evidence of the rapid effect of banning smoking in public places on decreasing
the burden of heart attacks." (Smoking ban 'reduces heart attack rate'. By Rebecca Smith.
The Telegraph, Sep. 5, 2007.)
These claims are a lie, because they used the admission rates of only nine months before
as their baseline, and disregard the fact that a strong decline in heart disease deaths was
already occurring, which began long before the smoking ban began on on March 29,
2004!
Cause of Death 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Ischaemic Heart Disease 7,240 7,059 6,589 6,163 6,107 5,583 5,485 5,064 4,860
(Deaths from principal causes registered in the years 1998 to 2006. Central Statistics
Office Ireland, accessed 9-5-07.)
Deaths from principal causes registered in the years 1998 to 2006 / Central Statistics
Office Ireland
The Reuters writer used the story as a pretext for a general spew-fest, but admitted that,
"There was no significant change in heart attacks in the second year after the ban,
indicating a possible step change in medical outcomes." (Heart attacks tumble after Irish
smoking ban. By Ben Hirschler. Reuters, Sep 4, 2007.) Because actual heart disease
deaths continued to decline during this period, the drop in admissions most likely
reflects a "step change" in the admission policy, not the outcome! (For example,
British doctors were historically less likely to admit patients for a heart attack than
doctors in the U.S., with no difference in outcome.)
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The Truth
Heart disease death rates have fallen steadily since 1961 to levels below those of the year
1900. (Fig. 1. In: Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Decline in Deaths from
Heart Disease and Stroke -- United States, 1900-1999. MMWR 1999 Aug
6;48(30):649-656.)
The decline in death rates since 1970 has been as large among smokers as among
non-smokers: When the sharp decline in heart disease death rates began in the United
States in the 1960s, it was the same in smokers as in non-smokers: "Nonsudden CHD
death decreased by 64% (95% CI 50% to 74%, Ptrend<0.001), and SCD rates decreased
by 49% (95% CI 28% to 64%, Ptrend<0.001). These trends were seen in men and women,
in subjects with and without a prior history of CHD, and in smokers and nonsmokers."
(Temporal trends in coronary heart disease mortality and sudden cardiac death from 1950
to 1999: the Framingham Heart Study. CS Fox, JC Evans, MG Larson, WB Kannel, D Levy.
Circulation 2004 Aug 3;110(5):522-527.) The decline in cigarette smoking has been much
greater in middle-aged men than in middle-aged women, which is not at all in accord with
the equivalence in the decline in mortality for the sexes. The decline in this study
parallels the decline nationwide, and it began before there were any appreciable number
of smoking bans.
Fox / Circulation 2004 full article
For political reasons, the anti-smokers have suppressed the hypothesis
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that smokers and non-smokers have merely been exposed at different
rates to the real causal factor(s), and that their respective rates of heart
disease have declined as population-wide exposure declines. This is the
hypothesis which best fits the evidence!
For socioeconomic reasons, smokers and passive smokers are more likely to have been
exposed to infectious causes of heart disease, such as cytomegalovirus. The anti-smokers'
studies deliberately ignore the role of infection, in order to falsely blame active smoking
and secondhand smoke for the excess. This is the reason that the pretended effects of
secondhand smoke are so similar to the pretended effects of active smoking.
CMV & other infections cause heart disease
The "Heart Rate Variabilty" Scam
Effects of passive smoking on heart rate variability, heart rate and blood pressure: an
observational study. D Felber Dietrich, J Schwartz, C Schindler, JM Gaspoz, JC
Barthlmy, JM Tschopp, F Roche, A von Eckardstein, O Brndli, P Leuenberger, DR
Gold, U Ackermann-Liebrich. Int J of Epidemiol 2007;36(4):834-840. [This is a Joel
Schwartz/Harvard School of Public Health study, which means that they grind an ax
promoting hysteria about particulates, and always ignore infection.] This study claimed to
find lower LF power (~199 vs. ~234 ms), higher heart rate (~75.3 vs. ~73.4 bpm), and
higher diastolic blood pressure (~83.3 vs. ~81.8 mmHg) in ETS-exposed >2h/d vs.
nonexposed subjects (estimated from Fig. 2). However, these are not the direct
measurements of those values, they have all been jiggered by being "adjusted for study
site, sex, age, education, BMI, diabetes and beta-blocker intake."
They claim that "Our study provides further evidence that ETS exposure is associated
with cardiac autonomic dysregulation, which may be an intermediate step in the pathway
to cardiac instability;" and that "LF, which is considered to represent both sympathetic
and parasympathetic activities, was lower in subjects with higher ETS exposure. We also
observed ETS-associated increases in heart rate and, more weakly, in DBP, consistent with
increases in sympathetic stimulation." [Except that this claim that LF is associated with
cardiac sympathetic innervation and function is bogus: "Several previous investigations
have cast doubt on the validity of LF power as a measure of sympathetic activity, because
of dissociations between LF power and cardiac norepinephrine spillover, directly recorded
sympathetic nerve traffic, and plasma norepinephrine levels (4,6,23). Such dissociations
are especially glaring in patients with congestive heart failure, which is characterized by
decreased LF power (11) despite marked cardiac sympathetic activation." Moak, 2007].
This study admits that the small differences between ETS-exposed and non-exposed
subjects were present 24 hours a day (i.e., when no exposure to ETS occurred): "Since
few people are exposed to ETS during sleep, we restricted analyses to the sleep period,
when acute exposure can be excluded and found results similar to those of the 24-h
measures. Therefore, we think that our findings do not reflect acute responses." But, when
the same differences are present during non-exposure as during acute exposure, the only
conclusion that could legitimately be drawn is that ETS exposure does not produce those
differences in the first place. However, rather than making the valid deduction that those
differences were probably due to small pre-existing differences in health conditions
between the exposed and the non-exposed subjects which were not accounted for in their
16 of 18 04/03/2011 04:23 PM
analysis, these charlatans spout pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo:
"ETS may affect autonomic control of the heart through activation of neural receptors of
the respiratory tract. On the other hand, gaseous components, soluble fractions of the
particulate component and ultrafine particle components of ETS may be absorbed in the
lung and have additional systemic effects. In the experimental setting, chronic ETS
exposure has been shown to increase proinflammatory cytokines and arterial resistance, to
decrease concentrations of antioxidants and to increase lipid peroxidation. We found no
evidence of ETS-associated increases in inflammation as measured by CRP and other
causal mechanisms may predominate with low-grade chronic exposure. Recent work by
Bartoli and colleagues suggests that particle exposures alter barometric reflexes, a
pathway through which ETS exposure might also influence HRV. Ultrafine particles are
associated with oxidative stress, as well as with reduced HRV." This is nothing but a snow
job! They are trying to make people believe in an effect which they could not
demonstrate exists in the first place!
Felber Dietrich / Int J Epidemiol 2007 full article
Eating Causes Heart Rate Changes
Periprandial changes of the sympathetic-parasympathetic balance related to perceived
satiety in humans. LF Harthoorn, E Dransfield. Eur J Appl Physiol 2008
Mar;102(5):601-608. "Subjects were exposed to a lunch-inducedhunger-satiety shift,
while profiling diverse sensory, physiological, and biochemical characteristics at 15 min
intervals.... Finally, neither chewing nor swallowing contributed to a heart rate increase
at food consumption, but orosensory stimulation, as tested with modified sham feeding,
caused a partial increase of heart rate."
Harthoorn - Eur J Appl Physiol 2008 abstract / PubMed
Heavy Drinking Causes Cardiovascular Changes
The alcohol hangover. JG Wiese, MG Shlipak, WS Browner. Ann Intern Med 2000 Jun
6;132(11):897-902. "Hangover may also be an independent risk factor for cardiac death.
Symptoms of hangover seem to be caused by dehydration, hormonal alterations,
dysregulated cytokine pathways, and toxic effects of alcohol. Physiologic characteristics
include increased cardiac work with normal peripheral resistance, diffuse slowing on
electroencephalography, and increased levels of antidiuretic hormone."
Wiese / Ann Intern Med 2000 full article
See Also:
The Surgeon General Lies That Smoking Causes Heart Disease
The EPA's ETS Lies
Infections in Peripheral Arterial Disease
The American Heart Association
How the Public Was Brainwashed About Heart Disease
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The Lie That Secondhand Smoke Causes Heart Disease

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