Smoke-Free Air Encouraging Healthier Wisconsin Homes, Workplaces

Today an encouraging new study was published in the Wisconsin Medical Journal showing the success of the smoke-free air law in decreasing secondhand  smoke exposure.

The study, which was conducted by University of Wisconsin Medicine and Public Health researchers,  showed that there was a significant decrease in second hand smoke exposure inside, outside, and at work.

The study also found that since the smoke-free air act went into effect in July 2010, residents have become more likely to adopt a smoke-free policy in their own homes.

This report clearly shows that because of the smoke-free air law, residents across the state are able to breathe smoke-free air at home and work. That is great news for our families and children.

It’s tremendously encouraging to see that people are such great fans of smoke-free air that they are setting smoke-free policies in their own homes.

The smoke free air law allows all workers and patrons to be protected from the well- known, cancer-causing chemicals in secondhand smoke by ensuring that all Wisconsin workplaces, including restaurants and bars, are smoke free.

Specifically, the report shows that since the Smoke-Free Air law went into place:

• The percentage of residents exposed to smoke outside the home declined from 55% to 32%
• The percentage of residents exposed to smoke at home declined from 13% to 7%
• The percentage of residents with non-smoking policies in their households rose from 74% to 80%.

This study is not the only report that has shown the great success of the smoke-free air law. Previous studies and surveys have shown that the smoke-free air law has greatly increased the health of Wisconsinites, including Wisconsin’s bartenders. This report builds on the growing amount of evidence of the health benefits of the smoke-free air law and  underscores the importance of ensuring that all Wisconsin residents  are able to choose to live in smoke-free housing.

The success of smoke-free air is an important step in promoting a healthier Wisconsin. 

But much work remains. Tobacco is still the leading cause of preventable death in Wisconsin. Nearly 8,000 people die each year from tobacco-related illnesses, and health care costs and lost productivity total $4.5 billion a year in Wisconsin. Smoke-free air is helping to turn these statistics around and we will continue to work together to reduce the burden of tobacco and promote the health of all people in Wisconsin.  

We look forward to seeing the continued health benefits of smoke-free air for the people of Wisconsin and our future generations.

Join the Movement to Transform Wisconsin

The tremendous burdens of obesity and tobacco on our state are well-known. Earlier this week, the CDC released new data showing that more than a quarter (27.7%) of Wisconsinites are obese, and the national costs related to obesity are staggering. A separate study released this week underscored the importance of promoting smoke-free living, reporting that nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke outdoors experience significant, lingering health effects.

By joining the Transform Wisconsin movement, you have an opportunity to do something to reverse these trends and improve the health of your community.

Transform Wisconsin is a new statewide effort that seeks to improve the health of our communities.  It is founded on the idea that health doesn’t happen in the doctor’s office – it happens where we live, work, and play.

At its core, Transform Wisconsin is about solutions.

In late July, the Transform Wisconsin Coalition awarded 30 grants, totaling $6.6 million over the next 26 months, to diverse community organizations across the state. Transform Wisconsin Coalition leaders, local grantees and community members gathered to announce the news at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, Stoney Acres Farm in Athens (near Wausau), Emerson Elementary School in La Crosse, the North Beach Gazebo in Racine, and the Eastside YMCA in Green Bay. 

Twenty-four communities are receiving an Impact Grant, which will focus on one of three key areas: expanding smoke free environments to include apartment buildings, strengthening farm to school programs so Wisconsin students have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, or increasing physical activity for kids by promoting and implementing open gyms between schools and community agencies. 

In addition, six communities are receiving a Transform Wisconsin Grant, which will focus efforts on all three key areas. In total, the projects will reach over 2.6 million people in Wisconsin, or about half of the state’s population. 

Transform Wisconsin is an unprecedented opportunity for individuals and communities to come together to improve health through innovative and effective local policies.

We all agree we want our kids to be safe and healthy. Together, we can – and we will – transform Wisconsin to a place where kids eat fresh, local fruits and vegetables at school; community members use schools for physical activity; and everyone has an opportunity to live in smoke-free housing.

Through Transform Wisconsin, communities across the state will improve health by making it easier for all residents to make healthy choices.

Everyone has a role in solving obesity and preventing chronic diseases. We invite doctors, teachers, farmers, and people in communities across the state to come together to find solutions that work for Wisconsin.

We need you to join the Transform Wisconsin movement! Visit www.transformwi.com today and sign up to receive updates or volunteer for a project in your community.  

Yet Another Reason to Support Smoke-Free Air Laws

Secondhand smoke delivers nicotine to the brain. A new study released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Monday, found there are even more health risks associated with secondhand smoke. The study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, discovered that "even limited secondhand smoke exposure delivers enough nicotine to the brain to alter its function," said National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D. in a press release by NIDA. This can also increase vulnerability to nicotine addiction for individuals heavily exposed to secondhand smoke.

This new study is just one more reason to support Wisconsin's smoke-free law, implemented July 2010 to reduce the number of individuals exposed to the known toxins in secondhand smoke. The law has already been shown to improve air quality, improve bartenders health, doesn't hurt businesses and more than 99 percent of Wisconsin workplaces are in compliance.

Wisconsin really is better smoke-free!

Stomach and Throat Cancers Linked to Smoking

A recent Italian study has found that smokers have an increased risk of certain throat and stomach cancers, even after quitting.  Current smokers’ risk of developing esophageal or gastric cardia (located in the stomach) cancers is two times higher than nonsmokers, and even people who had quit smoking for over three decades still had a heightened risk of esophagus cancer.

What’s more, smoking tied with obesity has led to skyrocketing numbers of esophageal and gastric cardia cancer rates in the U.S. and Europe.

And the risks don’t decrease to nonsmokers’ rates after quitting.  They remain higher, even decades later.  The sooner a person quits smoking, the faster they will receive health benefits, but cancer risks are still decrease slowly, being on average 62% higher in former smokers than lifelong nonsmokers. 

Some people may wonder why they should quit smoking if their risk of cancer is still higher after quitting, but when one compares the cancer rates of former smokers to the rate of current smokers, quitting does have its benefits - especially beyond cancer risk.  Why wait another day to both increase your chance at disease and decrease your overall health?

To read more click here.

Study Shows people are smoking less often and in smaller doses, leading to decreases in lung cancer!

A new study tested smoking rates in the United States and California separately to analyze smoking intensity patterns and found that both smoking and lung cancer rates have decreased!  California was tested separately because it has been the country’s leader in reducing cigarette smoking since the warning on smoking was given by the surgeon general in 1964.

The results showed that in 1965, 23.2 percent of adults in California and 22.9 percent of adults in the United States (excluding California) were heavy smokers.  These rates decreased dramatically by 2007 as only 2.6 percent of adults in California and 7.2 percent of adults in the rest of the United States were said to be heavy smokers.  This decline was also mirrored to a smaller extent in moderate smokers, showing Californians in 1965 to have a moderate smoking rate of 11.1 percent, while the remaining states had a 10.5 percent rate.  By 2007 these rates dropped to 3.4 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively.

John P. Pierce, PhD, of the University of California, San Diego, commented on this decrease, saying, “This decline in high-intensity smoking was not accompanied by a compensatory increase in the prevalence of less-intense smoking.”  This means that people are smoking smaller doses AND less often.

These results have been correlated to the decrease in lung cancer.  California’s lung cancer rate was at its peak in 1987 at 109 deaths per 100,000 and dropped in 2007 to 77 per 100,000.  The rest of the United States’ had its lung cancer death rate in 1993 with 117 deaths per 100,000 and declining in 2007 to 102 per 100,000.

This study shows just how important efforts, like those of SmokeFree Wisconsin and its partners, are to the health of our state. We must continue to work hard in Wisconsin to reduce tobacco use. Currently, 7,000 Wisconsin adults still die from their own smoking and 6,900 Wisconsin kids become new smokers each year. The burden of tobacco is one we all share, whether we use it or not. Tobacco costs Wisconsin $2.8 billion in health care costs every year, according to Burden of Tobacco in Wisconsin 2010, and for every cigarette pack sold, the expense to Wisconsin taxpayers is $9.53 in health care costs and lost productivity. We must continue working to bring down these costs, saving Wisconsin dollars and lives.To do that, we must continue funding for the state's Tobacco Prevention and Control Program as our work is far from finished. 

If you are a smoker who would like to quit, please call 1-800-QUIT-NOW.  

To learn more about this study, see the summary on WebMN here.

New Study Links Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy to Congenital Heart Defects in Infants

The journal Pediatrics published a new study titled, "Maternal Smoking and Congenital Heart Defects in the Baltimore-Washington Infant Study," which found maternal smoking during the first trimester of pregnancy increased the risk the baby would be born with congenital heart defects by 20 - 70 percent. A congenital heart defect is a condition some babies are born with which decreases the heart's ability to work well. These birth defects are the most common types of birth defects and make up for 30 percent of infant deaths as a result of birth defects every year. This new study shows how critical it is that a woman trying to get pregnant quit smoking. Quitting smoking before or very early into the pregnancy, the CDC says in a press release, "could prevent as many as 100 cases of right ventricular outflow tract obstructions and 700 cases of atrial septal defects each year in the US."

"Quitting [smoking] is the most important thing a woman can do to improve her health as well as the health of her baby," said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, M.D. M.P.H. in the CDC press release.

Today, nearly 40,000 infants are born with congenital heart defects in the US every year and in 2004, hospital costs for these defects were $1.4 billion, according to the CDC.

If you are pregnant or are thinking of becoming pregnant and need help to quit smoking, click here for the Wisconsin Women's Health Foundation's  First Breath program.

You can also call 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit the Wisconsin's Quitline site by clicking here.

For more information on the study:

Click here for The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's press release

To read the report, click here

Click here for more info on birth defects and smoking or call 1-800-CDC-INFO.

For more info on congenital heart disease, click here.

Smoke-free Law Improves Bartender Health in Wisconsin

New study shows bartenders exposed to less secondhand smoke are feeling the difference

Madison, Wis. – March 14, 2011 – A new study released by the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee on Monday found that bartenders all around the state are feeling an improvement in their health since the smoke-free law was implemented on July 5^th 2010 and began protecting them from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke in their workplace.

Researchers surveyed 531 bartenders around the state two months before the smoke-free law went into effect and then, again, three to six months after implementation. Bartenders’ first and second responses were 

compared and researchers found upper-respiratory symptoms, including wheezing, shortness of breath, coughing first thing in the morning and sore throats, decreased by 36 percent after the statewide smoke-free law went into effect.

“The smoke-free law improves health and saves lives,” said Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of SmokeFree Wisconsin. “This data is further evidence that Wisconsin workers are healthier now that the air is cleared of the 70 known cancer-causing agents found in secondhand smoke. Wisconsin truly is better smoke-free.”

Researchers also found that bartender support for smoke-free establishments increased to an overall 72 percent during the course of this study. Support went up the most among bartenders who smoke and bartenders in rural areas.

 “Support for the law continues to grow as more and more people see the very real, immediate and positive health effects associated with this life-saving legislation,” said Busalacchi.

This study is one of many that have been released recently which show strong support for the smoke-free law and the incredible health benefits already occurring as a result of Wisconsin becoming smoke-free.

For more information on the study visit: www.cuir.uwm.edu

To view and share a video of taverns and restaurants in support of the law visit: http://bit.ly/smokefreebars

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Study Associates Drop in Ear Infections with Decrease in Smoking Among Parents

For the last 15 years, pediatricians have been witnessing a continued drop in ear infections in their patients, now close to a 30 percent decrease. Today, a new study from Harvard University may have an explanation; a decline in smoking among parents.

JSOnline Reports: '"When people are smoking less around their kids, when homes are smoke-free, the rate of ear infections can and has decreased,' said Hillel Alpert, lead author of a study published recently by the journal Tobacco Control."

Researchers explain that secondhand smoke exposure in kids can trigger irritation and swelling in a child's nose and throat, causing ear infections.

The Harvard study points out the decline in ear infections in the last 13 years coincides with the what the Associated Press found to be a 40 percent decrease in the number of people exposed to secondhand smoke since 1990 (CDC).

Not everyone agrees the two are linked, as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel points out, and the study's researchers say further research is necessary. But this study highlights the serious health impacts secondhand smoke can have on a child and why efforts must continue in order to protect a child's right to live and breathe tobacco-free.

Read more about the Harvard Study by clicking here.

Read the full article on the study by clicking here.

Study Finds Smoking is Holding Back US Life Expectancy

Desire long life and quality in your years?  A recent report released by the National Research Council shows that smoking and obesity are shortening Americans potential life spans. Though life expectancy in the US is indeed increasing, it is increasing at much slower rates than other areas in the world. The study showed that within the last five years the average life expectancy of women is 80.4 years and 75.3 years for men in the United States, contrasting with the Japanese, whose women live for an average of 86 years and men live around 79.2 years.

These statistics are directly related to smoking, according to the report, as people who smoke, or used to smoke, have a decreased life expectancy.  While smoking isn't as prevalent now as it used to be, the damage of the past still leaves an impression on the present and future.  Each person’s smoking history makes a difference as every inhale leaves a lasting mark on their health.  This is why every day of choosing whether or not to quit smoking counts. 

Smoking can shorten your days, but obesity also plays a factor in future health, not just temporarily, but in the long term.  Generally speaking, the United States does not adequately prevent obesity, and many people who become obese gain chronic illnesses (such as hypertension and diabetes).  It is, too often, only after getting a disease that our health care system steps in to treat chronic illness. This is why the prevention work that Health First Wisconsin and other organizations around the state and country do, pursuing health before the onset of disease, is so important. Let's step in and promote health before we have to treat it. 

The results of this study also show how critical it is that we keep funding programs like the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program. Despite the great steps forward Wisconsin and the United States have made to curb tobacco use, there is much more work to be done.

The study goes on to remind us we need to remember that there are many different social contexts in which smoking and obesity are more likely, but if we try to promote prevention of smoking among youth as well as cessation, we can hope for longer lives which mirror our global counterparts.  If we look to prevent obesity through healthier eating and frequent exercise we can curb our likelihood of gaining chronic illnesses that hold us back and look to live longer and better quality lives.

To read more about this study on The Nation's Health click here.

Smoke-free Ordinances Don't Hurt Business, Says New Study

A new study released by the UW-Madison Carbone Cancer Center found that hospitality businesses saw no negative economical impacts as a result of smoke-free ordinances in the years following implementation.

The study focused on Madison, Appleton, Eau Claire, Marshfield and Fond du Lac, cities with smoke-free ordinances. From 2005 to 2009, researchers analyzed changes in the number of alcohol licenses issued, employment in sub-sectors of the hospitality industry, the number of establishments, and citations for violations of the city ordinances. After comparing the data to cities without smoke-free ordinances, researchers found no adverse economic effects throughout the hospitality industry, including bars and taverns.

In addition, there were only three violations in five cities over the course of the research, according to the study. Researchers claim this suggests business owners did not find it more profitable to disobey the law and run the risk of citation fees.

This study tells us what we had been told by other states all along; over time, hospitality businesses, including bars and restaurants, are not negatively impacted as a result of smoke-free ordinances. Wisconsin's statewide smoke-free laws should see even more positive economical effects on businesses over time. 

We recognize it may take some individual customers and businesses time to adjust initially but this study shows that in the long-run, the hospitality industry performs as well as before implementation, if not better.

New Research Shows Significant Improvement in Air Quality of Wisconsin Bars and Restaurants

Air Quality “Good” or “Satisfactory” in 97% of establishments tested after Smoke-free Law

A new study released by the University of Wisconsin found that air quality significantly improved after the smoke-free law took effect on July 5, 2010.

Air quality is measured by the amount of small particles found within the air. The size of these particles, which tobacco smoke is the leading cause of in indoor air, allows them to penetrate deeply within lung tissue and walls of arteries.

From April 2 – June 18, 2010, researchers visited 214 establishments statewide recording the air quality. At this time, the average air quality level was categorized as “very unhealthy” according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) standards.

After implementation of Wisconsin’s smoke-free law, tests were again conducted from August 28 – October 23 in establishments previously found to have “unhealthy” air quality. During these visits, researchers found 97 percent of the establishments had air quality categorized as “good” or “satisfactory.”

 “These findings demonstrate the incredibly positive impact the smoke-free law is already having on the environments of Wisconsin’s workplaces,” said Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of SmokeFree Wisconsin. “No one’s workplace should be hazardous to their health and this study further proves our workers are now breathing in cleaner, healthier air throughout their workday. This legislation is literally life-saving.”

The study also provides further evidence of high-compliance throughout the state, in line with recent data released by the Department of Health Services which found less than one percent of Wisconsin’s nearly 200,000 businesses are in violation of the law.

Check the study out by clicking here.

To see UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health's report on the study click here.

See Wisconsin Department of Health Services' release on the study here.

Wisconsin's Rate of Tobacco Sales to Minors Drop Again

For the eighth year in a row, illegal tobacco sales to minors in Wisconsin fall below the Federal target rate, Governor Doyle announced today.

According to a press release by the Department of Health Services, the noncompliance rate fell from 5.7 percent in 2009 to 4.7 percent in 2010. The release says this decline is largely a result of youth prevention efforts in our state.

 '"In Wisconsin, we are working hard to protect our kids from tobacco,"' said Governor Doyle in the release from DHS. '"This year's compliance survey is direct evidence that funding a comprehensive tobacco prevention program pays off. Credit also goes to retailers for helping to keep tobacco out of the hands of minors."'

Every state must stay below the 20 percent Federal target or they risk losing 40 percent of their federal grant funding for substance abuse prevention and treatment. In Wisconsin that would be around $10 million.

Read the full press release from DHS on WisPolitics here.

Read The Associated Press article about the decrease here.

Third-hand Smoke Puts Your Baby at Risk

Jonathan Winickoff, a pediatrician at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in Boston was quoted in the Scientific American defining third-hand smoke as, "tobacco smoke contamination that remains after the cigarette has been extinguished."

When that article was written in January of 2009, Winickoff discussed his research into the danger of third-hand smoke and the levels of toxins left behind after a smoker puts their cigarette out. But at that time, he knew of no research done that linked this recent discovery to disease.

Now, a new study out of Germany takes the research a step further, showing, for the first time, that these toxins are not only transferred to infants from their care-takers clothing, but that the toxic substances penetrate through the infant's skin "into deeper tissue layers," and do produce harmful effects in the exposed baby or toddler's skin.

The "harmful effects" researchers found to occur were massive damage to the skin cells of the child, "changing their shape and even, where the concentration was high, died off," and also that "nerve cells, which are particularly active during the early stages of development, showed clear changes and were no longer able to connect properly with one another."

So if mom or dad take a quick cigarette break, even if it's outside, and then pick up their little one, they are putting the child's health at risk, according to the study.

To read the full press release on the study click here.


To read Scientic American article from January 2009, mentioned above, click here.

Entertainment Industry Has Public Health Responsibility Say Authors of New Study

Medscape Medical News Reports: As a result of a recent study, The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued a statement calling for a ban on tobacco advertising in all media. In this statement, published in the October issue of AAP, experts point out there is 1 smoking scene every 57 minutes on American television. The statement gives 17 recommendations which include encouraging parents to limit their child's media exposure, and push for more media education and restrictions on advertising of alcohol and tobacco.  The report calls these products gateway drugs and says they "pose the greatest threat to children and teenagers," noting that those individuals who smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol are 65 times more likely to use marijuana than their peers who do not smoke or drink.
Therefore, the authors of the study are recommending pediatricians "encourage the entertainment industry to have greater sensitivity about the effects of television and movies on children and accept that the industry does, indeed, have a public health responsibility," reports Medscape Medical News.

View the full article from Medscape Medical News here.

Read AAP's report here.

Smoke-Free Air Laws Can Save Kids' Lives, According to Recent Study

New research finds smoke-free air laws have "even greater health benefits than previously believed," reports The Washington Post. The new study, conducted in Scotland and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that these laws reduce the number of trips to the hospital for kids suffering from asthma, potentially saving their lives. USA Today reports the study found, "the number of children hospitalized for life-threatening asthma episodes fell 18% in the first year after Scotland's smoke-free law took effect." Before Scotland passed their smoke-free air law, these numbers were on the rise.

While many studies have shown smoke-free air laws like Wisconsin's greatly improve the health of hospitality workers, this study furthers those findings by providing evidence that the laws have a very positive impact on the health of our children, as well. Wisconsin has the fifth highest kids' exposure rate to second-hand smoke in the nation. This study suggests the recently passed smoke-free air law can help to bring those numbers down and improve the respiratory health of our kids.

Read more about the study in The Washington Post here and in USA Today here.

Economical Impact of Cessation Programs in Our State

American Lung Association has posted a new study out of Penn State called, "Smoking Cessation: The Economic Benefits." Check out the interactive map and see how Wisconsin measures up with other states. Click on the state to see more on the economical impact of cessation programs there.

Click here to check out study.

Smokeless Tobacco Products NOT Safe Alternatives to Smoking, Says AHA

American Heart Association reports: Smokeless tobacco products like snuff and chewing tobacco are not only an unsafe alternative to smoking, but they also can increase the risk of certain cancers, fatal heart attacks and strokes, reports AHA.

Smokeless tobacco contains 28 known cancer-causing toxins and can lead to both oral and pancreatic cancer, gum disease and tooth decay and, in men, reduced sperm cells, according to the CDC.

In addition, these products "increase the risk of relapse for those who have already quit smoking," said AHA.

Check out the new report from AHA on CNN's Web site.

CDC - National Youth Smoking Rate No Longer Declining

HealthDay News Reports: The number of teens smoking in the United States is no longer decreasing as it had for the last decade. According to a new US government study, increased tobacco prevention efforts are necessary to begin bringing these numbers down again. The CDC found the rates of teens smoking nationwide was not significantly different in 2009 than it was in 2006.

"The researchers said tobacco use remains the single leading preventable cause of death and disease in the United States and that more than 80 percent of adult smokers begin smoking before age 18," reported HealthDay News.

In order to reduce smoking and the use of other tobacco products in teens, the study authors said, there must be restrictions on advertising and promotion of these products to young people, as well as have smoke-free air laws around the nation and increase the prices of these products.

Read full article here for more information and for the current smoking rates of teens nationally.

Picture credit: Woodgate Design

There is NO Safe Amount of Exposure to Cigarette Smoke - New Study Finds

The study, published in the Aug. 20 issue of American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, found even "casual" smokers and those exposed to second-hand smoke suffer intial damage to the genes in their cells that line their airway.

The report on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Web site says, "The bottom line: 'There is no level of cigarette smoking or exposure to cigarette smoke that does not make the cells in your lungs sick,' said study author Dr. Ronald Crystal, chief of the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell, in New York City."

Click here to view the full article on the new study.

What's Being Marketed to You on YouTube?

CNN Reports: A recent study found videos on YouTube promoting tobacco products to the site’s audience. The study, published in Tobacco Control, found more than 70% of the 163 popular videos studied had content that was pro-tobacco. Tobacco companies say they aren’t behind the videos.

Check out CNN’s blog post about the study and the complete study itself here.