SMOKE-FREE LEGISLATION REDUCES CHILDREN'S ASTHMA

CHILD HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS FOR

ASTHMA SLUMP AFTER SMOKING BAN

www.dailymail.co.uk - The number of children being admitted to hospital to be treated for asthma attacks has dropped sharply since the smoking ban came into effect. Experts believe the law may have made smokers more aware of the dangers of second-hand smoke at home. This is despite the fact that the legislation only applies to work and public spaces. Researchers at Imperial College London found NHS hospital admissions for children under 14 for asthma attacks fell by 12.3 per cent in England in the year after July 2007, when the ban came in. In the two subsequent years, admissions were 3.4 per cent lower. 
Experts say law change may have made adults more aware of dangers of passive smoking. The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that the total fall in the three years to July 2010 was equivalent to 6,802 hospital admissions. The drop was found in both boys and girls, in homes across all social classes and in both cities and rural areas.

Admissions for severe child asthma attacks had previously been rising from 2002 by 2.2 per cent a year, peaking at 26,969 admissions in the year before the ban. Asthma affects approximately one in every 11 children in the country. In other research, experts have found that hospital admissions for childhood asthma fell after legislation banning smoking in public spaces was introduced in Scotland and North America, before the law in England. Dr Christopher Millett, of Imperial College’s School of Public Health, said: ‘Previous studies have suggested the smoke-free law led more people to abstain from smoking voluntarily at home and in cars. 
‘We think exposing children to less second-hand smoke in these settings probably played an important role.’ Immediately following the ban, experts found a 10 per cent fall in heart attacks in England and it was suggested that older people who never smoked benefited the most.

Research shows there was a 12.3% fall in admissions in the first year after the law came into place in July 2007, and these have continued to drop in subsequent years, suggesting that the benefits of the legislation were sustained over time. Previous studies have shown hospital admissions for childhood asthma fell after smoke-free legislation was introduced in Scotland and North America. “As a society we must keep moving forward in ensuring that we protect our children from passive smoking. The next logical step would be to see a ban on smoking in cars when children are present, as the concentration of smoke caused by smoking within the small enclosed space of a car can be significantly greater than we used to see in pubs before the smoking ban,” said Dr Penny Woods, Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation. We must protect our children and support the smoking ban all over the world!

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

An average cigarette contains 401 poisons and 43 cancer-causing chemicals, there are around 1.1 billion smokers in the world (about one-third of the global population aged 15 and over) and we have quite a sobering picture of the world around us.  The statistics about other self-destructive behavioral patterns – alcoholism, substance abuse and suicide - are equally, if not more, alarming. And even among so-called normal people, practically everyone is victimized by some form of self-destructive behavioral pattern - unwarranted expression of anger that turn out to be disastrous, unintentional use of caustic words that break hearts and ruin lives and so on. ... Chanting (the Holy Names of God) enables one to experience within oneself continuous happiness, which is absolutely independent of the state of the body and the external world.

Śrīpad Caitanya Caran das (BE E&TC) :
“The Tragedy of Self-Destruction”
“The Spiritual Scientist” - Vol. 1 Issue 16.
Bhaktivedanta Academy for Culture and Education (BACE), Pune
http://thespiritualscientist.com/

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/