ASH, 102 Clifton Street, LONDON, EC2A 4HW.
Tel 020 7739 5902 Fax 020 7613 0531

ASH Daily News
20 November 2002


HEADLINES

Women at increased cardiac risk
Youth smoking ‘cut by mobile phones’
Irish smoke bans cause UK alarms to go off
Passive smoking debate
James Coburn dies



FULL TEXT


Women at increased cardiac risk

Women are now at as much risk as men of sudden death from heart attack, new
research shows.

The stress of running a family, while holding down a job, the rise of
smoking among females and eating junk food are all to blame the study says.

New research in the medical journal Heart shows now that men are only 1.3
times more likely than women to die form sudden cardiac arrest.

Sudden cardiac arrest is defined as the death of a person within an hour of
the start of their symptoms, where they had no previous signs of a
potentially fatal illness.

Dr Steen Abildstrom, from the National Institute of Public Health in
Denmark, spent two years monitoring the progress of almost 6,000 people who
had suffered a heart attack. He said: “The fact that women are catching up
with men in the risk of cardiac death is down to two things. The first is a
combination of the facts that a woman’s life has become more stressful in
the last 15 years and women’s diets are not as good as they used to be.

“The second is the increase in women who smoke.”

This news comes at a time when three quarters of hospitals in England are
failing to give heart attack victims fast enough life-saving care, according
to the first audit of their performance.

The audit by the Royal College of Physicians draws an alarming picture of
the care given in hospitals to people who have heart attacks. While the
report says the picture is improving, only 33 out of 214 hospitals met all
the targets laid out in the national service framework for coronary heart
disease.

Source: The Express, The Guardian, The Times, The Mirror, 20 November 2002



Youth smoking ‘cut by mobiles phones’

Teenagers are smoking less because mobile phones “give them something else
to do with their hands”. Research commissioned by the Duke of Edinburgh
Award Scheme says the number of teenagers owning mobile phones could be a
factor in the declining number of 15-year-olds who smoke cigarettes.

Official figures show that the government has already met its 2010 target
for reducing teenage smoking in England.

In 1996, 28 percent of boys aged 15 smoked regularly. The number is now 19
percent. For girls the figure has fallen from 33 percent to 25 percent. The
age of 15 or 16 is significant because it is a period when young people
start a smoking habit that can last throughout adulthood.

Mobile phone ownership among 15 – 24-year-old reached 73 percent in the same
period.

Clive Bates, director of ASH, said mobiles had been marketed in a similar
way to cigarettes with a focus on identity and confidence.

“Mobiles are smart, chic and adult. They allow individuality and self image
to be projected through choice of brand and model. With pay-as-you-go mobile
phones, young people are even spending their money in the way they would
have purchased cigarettes.”

Disappointingly though, the survey also found that more than 40 per cent of
14 to 19-year-olds did not know how a prime minister was elected or what
political parties did.

Source: Daily Telegraph, Telegraph Online, 20 November 2002





Irish smoke bans cause UK alarms to go off

The Publican reports that there is fear that a new Irish law banning smoking
in restaurants and pubs when food is being served could make its way into
the UK.

New Irish regulations currently being drafted will come into effect early
next year. As well as a smoking ban during meal times, licensees will also
be required to provide smoke-free zones on their premises.

Nick Bish, spokesperson for the UK hospitality industry’s Charter Group,
said: “It’s for the Irish to get their house in order. In England and Wales
we’re confident that we have the best act in town as far as self regulation
is concerned, and the government seems to recognise that. It is up to us as
an industry to ensure that the voluntary approach is a success.

Source: Publican, 18 November 2002



Passive smoking debate

Lord Faulkner of Worcester, at the House of Lords Address to the Queen’s
Speech, used his time to raise the several issues to do with tobacco with
particular emphasis on passive smoking. The text of Lord Faulkner’s speech
to the upper house of parliament and the minister’s response is available
from the following link:

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld199900/ldhansrd/pdvn/
lds02/text/21119-10.htm#21119-10_ignore0



James Coburn dies

James Coburn, Hollywood actor, remembered for his cigars as much as his
roles in classic movies such as The Magnificent Seven, has died at he age of
74. He died of a heart attack whilst listening to music at home.

Obituary: http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,843425,00.html
Source: The Guardian, The Express, 20 November 2002



----------------------------------
Unsubscribe:

Public subscribers: http://www.ash.org.uk/html/about/subscribe.php

Globalink members: http://member.globalink.org
----------------------------------



Naj Dehlavi
Action on Smoking and Health
102 Clifton Street
London EC2A 4HW
http://www.ash.org.uk