Has the smoking ban had any effect on our health? By Dr Christian Jessen

Most of us were sure the smoking ban would turn unrepentant smokers into pariahs, driven outside to skulk guiltily on street corners and outside office buildings, like boys behind the proverbial bike sheds. But now it seems the non-smokers are feeling left out of the gang, not party to the office gossip. There is once again a seedy glamour attached to smoking -- brave souls picked on by society but who determinedly puff on in the rain.
Some good has come from the smoking ban: researchers in Italy found that it resulted in a significant fall in hospital admissions for heart disease. In England, a similar trend has been noted. The Department of Health found a 10 per cent reduction in the number of hospital admissions for heart attacks in England in the year after the ban on public smoking was imposed in July 2007. This is good news as Britain is among the worst countries for deaths from heart disease -- smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise being the main culprits.
As a doctor I should be delighted, but I do question if those results are indeed a true interpretation of the facts. The largest recent study (still ongoing) in the US has so far shown that smoking bans have no effect on heart attacks at all, and the main studies quoted in the press have been shown to be flawed, either in their methods of data collection, or in how their data was statistically analysed. I find it hard to believe that, given that smoking is claimed to increase the heart attack risk of lifelong passive smokers by 20 per cent, any noticeable drop in heart attacks as a result of the ban is yet to be seen. The numbers are just too small and the timescales too short.
Where the ban does seem to be effective is among the younger generations. Interviews with children reveal that the majority no longer see smoking as "cool" and do not expect to try a cigarette, especially if one or both parents smoke. This is good news as many current heavy smokers will never give up, no matter what government warnings are thrown at them, but if we can stop the next generation from starting, then we really will see encouraging changes.
Editorial comment: The reference to England is inaccurate as no data has yet been published. For other countries, however, there is a growing body of evidence to show that smoking bans have had an impact in reducing heart disease, as the studies reported in Tuesday's Daily News have shown (http://www.ash.org.uk/ash_qzpya6px.htm).

Source: London Evening Standard, 23rd September 200