15 Nov 2006
Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke causes respiratory symptoms in healthy adults

OK, boys, here's the question: if smoking rates are going down (and they are), and smoking in public places is being banned (and it is), and if other forms of air pollution are vastly reduced from previous levels (and they are), why are we suffering from an asthma epidemic?

Wouldn't it be logical to see a decline in rates of COPD as we "improve" the environment by eliminating not only second hand tobacco smoke, but air pollution, dust, fungi and molds from habitats? Yet we're clearly seeing an increase in such disorders.

Could it be that our ultra clean, smoke free and disinfected urban environments are actually contributing to the problem, rather than being the solution? I'm always pounding the table that "correlation does not equal causation", but you have to admit that there is a startling correlation between the rise of the anti-tobacco movement and the increase in asthma.

Inquiring minds want to know: but who'll fund the study? And if the study showed a real link, who'd dare publish it in this political climate?

Over time, inhaling environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) -- a process often called "passive smoking" -- can cause otherwise healthy adults to develop chronic respiratory symptoms.

(link) [EurekAlert!]

07:34 /Politics | 5 comments | permanent link