Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Fewer heart attacks by smoking bans

Despite the exceptions, the smoking ban in Germany, thousands of heart attacks are prevented. Overall, the legislation would have prevented more than 35000 major cardiovascular diseases.

For these treatments in clinics, health insurance would otherwise have to spend about 150 million €. The head of the health insurance company DAK-health, Herbert Rebscher, presented in Berlin on Tuesday the world's largest study on this topic.

Just one year after the introduction of the Non smoking protection laws in 2007 and 2008 went to the clinic because of heart attack treatments fell by 8.6 percent, as is evident from study. The leading role of the Kiel Institute for Therapy and Health Research study based on data compiled from 3.7 million DAK-insured.

The treatments for angina pectoris, chest tightness as a precursor of heart attack, fell as much as 13 percent. The decline, the researchers measured the incidence of diseases previously expected. In the infarction was characterized by a further continuous increase has been assumed as in previous years.

Study author Harewinkel Reiner led the decline in the disease back exclusively to the protection Non smoking laws in the countries. "You have prevented 1880 hospitalizations," said Harewinkel based solely on the DAK-insured. In their 450-infarction treatments were avoided.

The DAK was thus also save 7.7 million euros for treatments. The investigators in the study over a period of four years of ongoing study by its own account, that the decline was due to the disease cases in the clinics to other causes. Among other things, had been examined whether there were more outpatient treatment instead. This was not the case.

Cash Rebscher chief demanded as a result of the survey to restaurants nationwide ban on smoking in public places, and without exception. The study does not even grasp the suffering avoided due to lung cancer and other lung diseases. "It will take into perspective some of what we have heard so far on alleged civil rights in the debate."

Even Helmut Gohlke, a board member of the Heart Foundation, argued that smoking bans have caused more than would now be proved. Most recently more than 100 000 people per year have died from diseases that have to do with smoking. This corresponds to more than 290 deaths per day. Tens of thousands of lung cancer could be a waiver by the parties be prevented in cigarettes. "Passive smoking is not harassment, but injury," Gohlke said also.

According to the chairman of the Health Committee in the Bundestag, Carola Reimann (SPD), the study shows "that affect the protection Non smoking laws and prevent diseases." She told the news agency added: "I would hope that all countries make it like Bavaria and uniformly without exceptions."

Baden-Wuerttemberg, Hesse, Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania resulted in a 2007 Non smoking laws. The following year, followed by Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia. Many states do not permit smoking in small bars from the age of 18. Otherwise, may be almost anywhere puff away in separate smoking rooms. After a referendum in Bavaria, where smoking is prohibited in restaurants, almost without exception.

Today 82 percent of the once-controversial smoking bans are good as the DAK health emphasized, referring to a specially made Forsa survey. 23 percent of those surveyed frequently since then to a restaurant or a cafe.

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