Secondhand Smoke Associated With Psychiatric Distress, Illness

[DavidDvorkin]

Exposure to secondhand smoke appears to be associated with psychological distress and the risk of future psychiatric hospitalization among healthy adults, according to a report posted online that will appear in the August print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100607165625.htm

[CBGLuthier]

1. I heard secondhand smoke killed the dinosaurs

[jdlh8894]

3. You heard wrong

It was the dinosaur's smoking that killed the dinosaurs! I thought everybody knew that.

[pipi_k]

8. It was the marijuana that did it, you know...

turned half of them into raging lunatics which killed the other half that just didn't give a shit.

Then the lunatics turned on each other, and we all know how that ended up...

[jdlh8894]

11. Ain't munchies a bitch?

[Confusious]

33. What about the portion who were laughing hysterically?

Can we do thirds?

[pipi_k]

35. Oh, I forgot about that...

Yep, we can do thirds as long as they laughed themselves to death...

[Confusious]

45. New theory!

They all got stoned, the ones with the munchies ate the ones who wanted to watch TV, and the others laughed themselves to death watching.

I smell Nobel prize!

[pipi_k]

48. By Jove, I do believe you could be right!!!!

And to think that whole problem of what happened to the dinosaurs was solved right here on DU!!!!

They were the original hippies!!!!

:hippie:

[Ian David]

2. It could just be that people with emotional problems are attracted to smokers. n/t

[MineralMan]

4. Complaints about Second Hand Smoke Tied to Psychiatric Disorders

There, I fixed your title. Another Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc moment, brought to you by MineralMan.

[dmallind]

5. Actually no - there is no indication here that this is only affecting those who complain about it.

[MineralMan]

10. Association does not imply causation.

One of the first rules of the scientific method. Here's a quote from the actual article cited:

Exposure to secondhand smoke appears to be associated with psychological distress and the risk of future psychiatric hospitalization among healthy adults, "

Associated. No causation is implied, except by the amateur science writer. Care is often required in reading popular explanations of scientific research.

Again: Association does not imply causation.

[dmallind]

16. No - but that's not waht I was replying to

I was replying to a facile and false claim that only peole who complained about ETS were seen to be suffering from these ill-effects


Where exactly did I claim association was causation?

[MineralMan]

17. My post title was written to demonstrate the content of the

original title. And that OP title was supported in the body of the article. The science writer, for a change, used the word "associated" in the article. The only thing that has been shown is an association. There is no evidence of causation. Just association, and we all know what that leads to. But, ignorant people often take associations to mean causation.

Sometimes, I include a bit of satirical intent in my reply titles. It's just how I am, you see.

[dmallind]

19. No - the OP has no edited timestamp and says association. NT

[MineralMan]

21. Actually, I realized that and rewrote my post. Thanks.

[enlightenment]

6. Indeed.

Perhaps the psychiatric community should reintroduce 'hysteria' as a condition - instead of a wandering womb, it could be the result of wandering brain cells.

[dmallind]

9. Except exposure was tested by saliva, not by complaints, hysterical or otherwise. NT

[DavidDvorkin]

7. It's apparently associated with denialist responses, as well.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[surrealAmerican]

15. It's not an "attack against freedom" as you say.

It's a scientific finding which shows an association between second-hand smoke and mental illness. It doesn't prove causality, but it may indicate a direction for further research.

... and yes we are all going to die, but that is in no way relevant to the subject of this post.

[Catshrink]

18. I thought it was pizza

[superduperfarleft]

20. LOL. n/t

[WinkyDink]

13. So, there's a reason I'm nuts.

[kestrel91316]

14. I've been saying for decades that second-hand smoke drives me crazy.......

I guess I should count myself lucky that it was only hyperbole on my part.

[The Straight Story]

22. ROFL

Seriously? Jeebus. No wonder the psych wards were filled with people in the 40's-90's. People smelled smokes and went insane.
Automotive Exhaust Chemicals: disease causing effects

A short list of the likely pathogens in car exhaust:

* Carbon Monoxide
* Nitrogen dioxide
* Sulphur dioxide
* Suspended particles, PM-10 particles less than 10 microns in size.
* Benzene
* Formaldehyde
* Polycyclic hydrocarbons

Background Information - Adverse Health Effects of Chronic Exposure to Petroleum Combustion Products. On November 18, 1994, the first-ever conference on "Air Pollution: Impacts on Body Organs and Systems" was held in Washington, D.C. by the National Association of Physicians for the Environment. An abridged version follows. The relevance of this perspective increases with increasing air pollution and climate change. 2009 Update.

Jaffe and Badman at the same conference summarized the effects of polluted air :

"Blood perfuses all of the body's organs and can carry toxic substances as well as beneficial substances, such as oxygen, to them. Air pollution is the source of many materials that may enter the human bloodstream through the nose, mouth, skin, and the digestive tract. Chemicals known to be harmful, such as benzene, lead and other heavy metals, carbon monoxide, volatile nitrites, pesticides, and herbicides. These substances have been shown to produce harmful effects on the blood, bone marrow, spleen, and lymph nodes. Blood cells are constantly undergoing turnover, with new blood cells entering the circulation as mature cells are lost, making the blood system especially vulnerable to environmental poisoning. For example, lead interferes with normal red blood cell formation by inhibiting important enzymes. In addition, lead damages red blood cell membranes and interferes with cell metabolism in a way that shortens the survival of each individual cell. Each of these harmful effects can result in anemia.

Common air pollutants also have an affect on blood and thus on organs of the body. For example, carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin two hundred times more avidly than oxygen and distorts the release to the tissues of any remaining oxygen. Thus, CO poisoning is a form of suffocation. Carbon monoxide can exacerbate cardiovascular disease in humans. Some airborne chemicals stimulate the immune system to activate leukocytes and macrophages that can produce tissue damage, especially to the cells that line human blood vessels. The combined effect of these events is to accelerate the changes that eventually lead to hypertension and ischemic heart disease.

Cory-Slechta and Lundberg discussed the adverse effects of pollution on the central nervous system: "The central nervous system (CNS) is the primary target for many serious air pollutants, such as lead, which is a major environmental hazard. Research provided evidence that levels of lead exposure associated with central nervous system effects, particularly as manifest in behavioral changes was lower than previously realized. Blood lead concentrations in children were not considered problematic until they exceeded 30 to 40 micrograms per deciliter ('g/dL); however, studies demonstrated changes in cognitive function at blood concentrations as low as 10 to 15 'g/dL. While children are more susceptible to lead's CNS effects, adults exhibit similar deficits in learning and memory. Advanced aging increases vulnerability to the toxic effects of lead. In Germany, a large study documented an age-related decline in bone lead concentrations with advancing age. This effect was more pronounced in women than in men, reflecting post-menopausal processes in women which contribute to bone resorption and the release of lead back into the bloodstream. These results mean that brain lead exposure is actually increased during a period of already heightened susceptibility due to concurrent degeneration of other physiological functions, including both CNS and renal functions.

http://www.nutramed.com/environment/carschemicals.htm

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this is a topic of interest to me too...

in Portland a few years ago someone did a study and found that the air in inner NW Portland (where i lived and worked) was relatively polluted. this was not measured in a line of car exhaust, but rather just the "regular" air...

from what i understant it is as KrisA states: the danger is with the particles sticking in or damaging lung tissues --- i think the bigger the particles you inhale the worse.

In many heavily polluted cities like Bangkok, the moped riders all wear paper masks...

i'm not informed enough to know if these block small enough particles to really reduce the health risk much, but they do make it more tolerable...

air pollution in the US was greatly reduced from about 1970 to 1990 through clean air act --- regulations on industry emmisions (particualrly reduced acid rain) and autos (catalytic converters, unleaded gas, etc) -- but since some time in the mid-90's pollution has either stopped falling or even increased in most of the US --- due to 1) more vehicles miles driver and 2) the end of increased regulations and in many cases relaxation (Bush)

http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-46415.html

[Kalyke]

23. If course!

People who see bogeymen in second-hand cigarette smoking while ignoring the pollution emanating from the interstate across from them HAVE to be delusional. And people who buy into the hew and cry that smoke causes every single problem that Big Pharma either doesn't want to fix or wants you to spend more money on also have problems dealing with reality.

That's the only explanation.

[pipi_k]

24. So as fewer and fewer people smoke, we should be seeing

a steady decline in the numbers of people with psychiatric "issues".


OK.

I wish I could be around 50 years from now to see how that works out. :eyes:

[dmallind]

25. This would only be true if ETS were the ONLY or even a major cause of psych issues.

But if they are simply a minor cause or exacerbating factor should we not deal with it anyway?

[pipi_k]

37. You won't get an argument from me...

since I'm an ex smoker who thinks the habit, along with the second hand smoke, is disgusting.


But this whole study just seems to be yet another one of those useless things that keeps people busy, like when we're told one week that caffeine causes x, xx, xxx, and xxx, and the next week that's not the case at all.

Eggs are bad today. Tomorrow they're not.

[immune]

26. Uh oh

Smoker, prepare thyself for another tax hike, they are always preceded by ever more ridiculous claims.

[DavidDvorkin]

27. What makes this ridiculous?

[immune]

28. You think smoking makes people insane?

And I'm being rediculous?

[DavidDvorkin]

29. I pointed to a study that shows a correlation

Denying those findings is ridiculous.

There may be a flaw in the study. There may some other variable, not yet accounted for, that explains the results. But it's absurd to dismiss a study because the results run counter to your beliefs or instincts.

[immune]

31. We will have to part ways on that issue

So aren't you wondering where all the studies are on dispersant's being used in the oil disaster. Oh, that's right, there weren't any. Just fire at will.

I gave up being a true believer in cocked up "studies" with political ramifications a long time ago. But that's just me.

[Zoeisright]

39. It certainly turns them into deniers.

They won't accept anything, not matter how sound or strong the science behind it, that threatens their addiction.

[walldude]

30. Well then lets just shoot all the smokers.

[dmallind]

32. Or, maybe just stop them polluting the air breathed by nonsmokers in enclosed spaces?

Perosnally I'd prefer to stop there.

[walldude]

34. We already do that. Apparently it's not enough.

So what is it you want to do next? Smokers are regulated to the outdoors, their own homes and in some places cars. That's all we have left. You claim that you'd prefer to stop there, if that was true then why reply to my comment? We are already there. There is no smoking in indoor public places anywhere in America, and there are many outdoor areas where we are not allowed as well. You claim that that is enough yet felt the need to post a snark here...

My entire smoking life I was always courteous about it. I never smoked around people who didn't want to smell it and I always put my cigarette out if asked. Now that I have been regulated to second class citizen I'm much less likely to give a fuck what someone like you thinks about me smoking.

[immune]

36. Ditto that.!

:smoke:

[jdlh8894]

40. At airports around this country

I used to say to others between flights outside,"Feel like a second class citizen in a third world country".Then went to a few countries(not all 3rd world) and it seemed to me that I was the only person not smoking. This country sometimes can be very wussified(if that is a word)!!

[dmallind]

51. No we are not - it's a patchwork of local restrictions. Complaining about snark when you

post hyperbolic poor-me victimhood whines is a bit disingeneous BTW.

[NeedleCast]

49. You stop driving your car, I'll stop smoking

[dmallind]

50. I don't drive my car in enclosed public spaces. I assume you will do the same? NT

[Zoeisright]

38. Not surprising.

There's absolutely nothing good about cigarettes.

[jdlh8894]

41. They are GOOD at Pissing people off! N?T

[immune]

43. Yep

I can't decide who gets more pissed off, folks who just don't like smoke or people who are trying to quit because of the stigma. Personally, I'd prefer to hang with smokers who are generally more easy going than either of the other two groups. Who needs the stress, it'll drive ya insane. :crazy:

[inna]

42. What about first-hand smoking? If there is a valid correlation, it must be much more

significant with first-hand smoking.

[muffin1]

44. We need

a 'raspberries' emoticon at DU.

[Odin2005]

46. Jee, thanks mom!

:sarcasm:

[frustrated_lefty]

47. NEWS ALERT: Second hand smokers flap and sqwuak like yard animals