PREVENT HEART DISEASE

This site assists in opposing heart disease by providing educational information based on medical journal data citing the role of cigarettes in adverse effects generally, and at this site, specifically, their role in causing heart disease. Cigarettes contain toxic chemicals and impair the immune system. This combination makes cigarettes a risk factor in heart disease.

Cigarettes contain toxic chemicals. Deaths are "natural and probable consequences." Heart disease typically involves prior tobacco-induced impaired breathing, the same factor in children who die of SIDS.

"Smoking During Pregnancy Lowers Levels of 'Good' HDL Cholesterol in Children" (Science Daily, 20 June 2011), "mothers who smoke during pregnancy are causing developmental changes to their unborn babies that lead to them having lower levels of the type of cholesterol that is known to protect against heart disease in later life -- high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol."

Being exposed to others' TTS for
  • "20 minutes . . . starts creating cardiovascular problems" in nonsmokers, says Jeffrey Wigand, Ph.D., "10 Questions for Jeffrey Wigand," Time (14 Feb 2005), p 8
  • a mere 30 minutes can kill you.—286 J Am Med Ass'n (#4) (24 July 2001). Repeat, thirty (30) minutes exposure can kill, in persons taken as they come.

    "Relatively low levels of fine particulate exposure from either air pollution or secondhand cigarette smoke are sufficient to induce adverse biological responses increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality," say C. Arden Pope III PhD, Richard T. Burnett PhD, Daniel Krewski PhD, Michael Jerrett PhD, Yuanli Shi MD, Eugenia E. Calle PhD, and Michael J. Thun MD, in "Cardiovascular Mortality and Exposure to Airborne Fine Particulate Matter and Cigarette Smoke. Shape of the Exposure-Response Relationship," Circulation (31 August 2009). Wherefore "Smoking bans in public places result in a reduced incidence of acute myocardial infarction" (Expert Reviews, April 2010).

    "Mayo: Smoking bans cut cardiac events 45%," says "Researchers report direct link between indoor smoking bans and fewer deaths." (15 November 2011). "Mayo has spent the past 50 years tracking patients in Olmsted County, where its flagship operations are based. Aside from smoke-free Sweden, no place else in the world has the capability to scientifically track health trends and outcomes, Hurt said. Mayo pushed for a smoke-free ordinance in Olmsted County, the first county in Minnesota to pass a ban and among the first in the nation. Mayo also helped write statewide legislation, known as the Freedom to Breathe Act."

    A reduction in even the most severe cases occurs also. "After implementation of such a smoking ban on 1 January 2008 in the metropolitan area of Bremen in northwest Germany (800,000 inhabitants) a 16% decline in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) was observed. STEMI is the severest form of myocardial infarction," says "Non-smokers benefit most from smoking ban" (25 August 2012, European Society of Cardiology (ESC)).

    See also pertinent articles by

  • Raupach T, Schafer K, Konstantinides S, Andreas S. "Secondhand smoke as an acute threat for the cardiovascular system: a change in paradigm." Eur Heart J. 2006 Feb;27(4):386-92.

  • Barnoya J, Glantz SA. "Cardiovascular effects of secondhand smoke: nearly as large as smoking." Circulation. 2005 May 24;111(20):2684-98.

  • Pechacek TF, Babb S. "How acute and reversible are the cardiovascular risks of secondhand smoke?" Brit Med J. 2004 Apr 24;328(7446):980-3.
  • Prof. of Medicine Stanton Glantz, Ph.D., says, "Coronary flow velocity reserve is an important measure of the ability of the heart to respond to increases in demand and is closely related to endothelial and platelet function, both of which relate to both the chronic and acute risk of heart attack. It is well established that increased platelet activation causes platelets to stick to the vascular lining (the endothelium) and cause physical damage, which is important for the development of atherosclerosis. The acute effects can also trigger a heart attack in people at risk. No one is saying that one whiff of smoke causes a heart attack in everyone who breathes it. What the evidence shows is that there are substantial immediate effects that compromise the cardiovascular system and that, in some people, these changes are the same kinds of things that can trigger an acute event."

    So smoking bans reduce heart attack rates, says Keith Roysdon, in "Smoking ban cuts heart attacks, study indicates," citing the article by Richard P. Sargent, Robert M. Shepard, and Stanton A. Glantz, "Reduced incidence of admissions for myocardial infarction associated with public smoking ban: before and after study," 328 British Medical Journal (#7443) (5 April 2004).

    Therefore smoke-free laws enforcing already existing constitutional rights and criminal law, help prevent heart attacks. See, e.g., "Direct Evidence that Smokefree Laws Immediately Save Millions in Health Costs" in the American Journal of Public Health, 10.2105/AJPH.2009.179572 (13 May 2010). Prof. Stanton M. Glantz, Ph.D. says it "demonstrated that implementation of the Arizona statewide smokefree indoor air law was associated with drops in hospital admissions for not only heart attacks (which has been shown in many places already), but also for angina (chest pain), stroke, asthma. They showed that there were drops in Arizona counties that had no smoking restrictions before the state law went into effect, but not ones that were already smokefree. They also showed no changes in hospital admissions for diseases not cause by secondhand smoke. This is exactly what one would expect to happen if the law was making a big difference. The most important piece of information in the study, however, was a direct estimate of the hospitalization costs avoided. In the first 13 months, the law was associated with savings of $16.8 million. This is all the more impressive when you consider that the major population centers in Arizona were already smokefree. This study provides more evidence that we should shift from thinking about tobacco control as long run prevention to a highly effective, simple and inexpensive form of medical care cost containment."

    See also "Passive smoking and risk of coronary heart disease and stroke: prospective study with cotinine measurement," by Peter H. Whincup, Julie A. Gilg, Jonathan R. Emberson, Martin J. Jarvis, Colin Feyerabend, Andrew Bryant, Mary Walker, and Derek G Cook, in Brit Med J (30 June 2004), showing that the risks of heart disease linked to second hand smoking conduct are virtually indistinguishable from active smoking.

    Such data is making the news. See, e.g., Michael Stobbe, "Smoking ban leads to major drop in heart attacks" (AP, 31 December 2008), citing a "study, the longest-running of its kind, showed the rate of hospitalized cases dropped 41 percent in the three years after the ban of workplace smoking in Pueblo, Colo., took effect." For more background on this important verification, see e.g.,

  • "Reduced Hospitalizations for Acute Myocardial Infarction After Implementation of a Smoke-Free Ordinance --- City of Pueblo, Colorado, 2002--2006" (CDC MMWR 57(#51);1373-1377, 2 January 2009)

  • "Smoking Ban Spurs Drop in Heart Attacks, 41 Percent Drop in Hospitalized Cases Reported 3 Years After Pueblo, Colo. Adopts Ban" (CBS News, 31 December 2008).
  • And note the similar 2007 study in the Journal of Drug Education, "Heart attacks in non-smokers decreased with smoking ban" (Indiana University, 19 November 2007). Their study puts more emphasis on the decline in the rate of heart attacks among nonsmokers: "after a countywide smoking ban was implemented, hospital admissions for such heart attacks dropped 70 percent for non-smokers -- but not for smokers." Background: "People with no risk factors for heart disease can still experience heart attacks." Tobacco smoke by itself is sufficient to cause heart attacks, without any other "risk factors."

    And see Roger Dobson, "Smoking bans reduce heart attack admissions," British Medical Journal 2008;337:a597 (30 June 2008) ("Bans on smoking substantially reduce hospital admissions for heart attacks, research has shown. On the first anniversary of the ban on public smoking in England, a report shows that smoke-free laws worldwide reduce admissions by almost one fifth (Preventive Medicine 2008 Jun 18; doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2008.06.007 . . . will help prevent an estimated 40,000 deaths in the next 10 years)."

    TTS adversly affects blood platelet function by making them aggregate and stick to arteries' lining. This depresses vascular endothelial function. Such effects, potentially lethal, happen in minutes. (Preventing such changes is what is done to lower heart attack risk in people at risk, e.g., the advice to take aspirin due to its anti-aggregation/stickiness effect).

    Painting on Ceiling of Smoking Section"Chapman, of England, long ago (1802) described as 'tobacco heart' a hypertrophy and dilation of the heart due to tobacco."—John H. Kellogg, M.D., LL.D., F.A.C.S., Tobaccoism, or, How Tobacco Kills (Battle Creek, Michigan: The Modern Medicine Publishing Co, 1922), p 65.

    "As early as 1848 scientists were aware of the link between tobacco and heart conditions. In 1862 there was evidence that smoking could initiate angina pectoris. By 1909 it was established that smoking a cigarette increased the pulse [heart workload] up to 20 beats per minute . . . Researchers have been substantiating similar findings ever since."—Alton Ochsner, M.D., Smoking and Your Life (New York: Julian Messner Pub, 1954), pp 49-50.

    "Evidence of this . . . occurred . . . . years ago. During World War II, 80,000 men were discharged from the armed forces because of cardiovascular disability, and these were young men who were supposed to be in the prime of life. Since the war, the percentage of young men found to be physically unfit for military service has increased [as smoking increased] with heart conditions accounting for 16 percent of the rejects," p 49, supra.

    "Graves, in 1848, seems to have been the first to call attention to the fact that tobacco caused function [impairment] of the heart. Beau, in 1862, mentioned cigarettes specifically as a cause of angina pectoris." "In 1887, Gelineau published a monograph on angina pectoris in which he stated that the disease was frequent in cigarette smokers." "Huchard first used the term, 'tobacco angina,' when in 1889, he published his Traité des Maladies du Coeur."—Frank L. Wood, M.D., What You Should Know About Tobacco (Wichita, KS: The Wichita Publishing Co, 1944), p 83.

    Citations for These References
  • Graves, Robert James (1796-1853), A System of Clinical Medicine, 3rd American ed. (Philadelphia: E. Barrington and G. D. Haswell, 1848)
  • Beau, Joseph Honoré Simon, Réplique Dans la Question des Mouvements du Coeur (Paris: J. B. Ballière et Fils, 1863)
  • Edouard Gélineau (1828-1906), Traité de l'Angine de Poitrine (Paris, Delahaye et Lecrosnier, 1887)
  • Huchard, Henri (1844-1911), Maladies du Coeur et des Vaisseaux: Artério-sclérose, Aortites, Cardiopathies Artérielles, Angines de Poitrine, Etc. (Paris: Doin, 1889)
  • "The inflammatory nature of atherosclerosis was first described in the 1850's," say D. J. Lamb and G. A. A. Ferns, in "Infection, immunisation and atherosclerosis: is there a link?," in Vaccine, Vol 17 (Iss # 6), Feb 1999, pp 559-564, in § 2, "Inflammation and atherosclerosis."

    Dr. Abel Gy in 1913, published an 1873-1913 bibliography of materials on tobacco-induced heart disease, L'Intoxication Par Le Tabac (Paris: Masson et Cie, 1913), pages 90-103.

    Soon, the first open-heart surgery was performed. This was by Dr. Daniel Hale Williams on 9 July 1893. Dr. Williams had founded Chicago's Provident Hospital in 1891. In 1913, he became a charter member of the American College of Surgeons.

    "Plenge . . . described the results of post-mortem examinations on . . . patients who had smoked. . . . there was a sclerosis or hardening which was [impacting] the terminal arteries of the heart. . . . Plenge [concluded] that smoking had been responsible for an acute contraction of the circular muscles in the walls of the blood vessels which, in time, had become chronic or constant, so that the caliber of the vessels was permanently narrowed. That Plenge's deductions were absolutely correct has now been proved." Wood, supra, p 84.

    "Harlow Brooks, in Harper's Medical Monographs (1930), declared: 'Tobacco angina of greater or less degree is extremely frequent, and most chronic users of tobacco sooner or later experience it in some degree. . . ." Wood, supra, p 84.

    "There can be no doubt that disorders of the heart, often ending in sudden failure and death, are more common among men who smoke than among those who do not."—Herbert H. Tidswell, M.D., The Tobacco Habit: Its History and Pathology (London: J. & A. Churchill, 1912), p 80. Explanation (increased poison retention) is at p 65.

    Higley and Frech add that

    "while the pulse is seventy-two among non-users, the average pulse of those addicted to the use of tobacco is eight-nine—an increase of about seventeen pulsations every minute. This is to say that to every 1,000 pulsations in those who do not use it, there would be 1,233 in those who do use it. The effect of such an increased action of the heart is very injurious, giving it increased labors and increasing the number of beats about 24,000 a day."—Luther H. Higley and Theodore Frech, The Evils of Tobacco and Cigarettes (Butler, Indiana: The Higley Printing Co, 1916), p 30. See also William Thayer Smith, Ph.D., Prof of Physiology, Dartmouth Medical College, Primer of Physiology and Hygiene: A Textbook for Primary Classes (New York: Ivison, Blakeman & Co, 1885), pp 46-48.

             Medical evidence shows that exposure to tobacco smoking conduct increases nonsmokers' risk of heart disease by 25%. See an example by Dr. Tidswell, supra, p 64. Smokers' risk of heart disease from smoking is increased 65%.

    Note also "Women's Peripheral Artery Disease Tied to Secondhand Smoke" (Circulation, Healthday, 22 September 2008). ("They face 69% increased risk for heart disease, 56% risk of ischemic stroke, study finds.")

    So banning smoking in public places reduces heart attacks. See, e.g., "Heart Attacks Decreased After Public Smoking Ban In Italy" (Science Daily, 13 February 2008). "The number of acute coronary events such as heart attack in adults dropped significantly after a smoking ban in public places in Italy, researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association." "The smoking ban in Italy is working and having a real protective effect on population health."

    "Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States . . . 1995 . . . 481,287 deaths . . . . To achieve a meaningful reduction in the burden to society of coronary heart disease, both passive and active smoking must be targeted . . . The only safe way to protect nonsmokers from exposure to cigarette smoke is to eliminate this health hazard from public places and workplaces, as well as from the home."—Jiang He, M.D., Ph.D., Suma Vupputuri, M.P.H., Krista Allen, M.P.H., Monica R. Prerost, M.S., Janet Hughes, Ph.D., and Paul K. Whelton, M.D., " Passive Smoking and The Risk of Coronary Heart Disease"—A Meta-Analysis of Epidemiolgic Studies," 340 N Engl J Med (12) 920-926 (25 March 1999). See also, "Passive Smoking Linked to Heart Disease," 314 Brit Med J (# 7094) 1569 (1997).

             "Passive smoking is a major and independent risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, being the third leading preventable cause of death after active smoking and alcohol." And, "the elastic properties of the large arteries play an important role in the function of the entire cardiovascular system. The aorta (the large artery that receives the blood ejected by the left ventricle) does not only serve as a conduit but plays a very important role modulating both (i) the function of the left ventricle (the power generator of the heart) and (ii) blood flow through the coronary arteries (the nutrient vessels of the heart itself)."

             "Improved aortic elastic properties facilitate performance of the left ventricle and enhance coronary blood flow. It follows that any unfavorable effect on aortic elastic properties will contribute to the adverse effects of passive smoking on the cardiovascular system. Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that passive smoking acutely deteriorates aortic elastic properties (Annals of Internal Medicine 1998; 128:426-434)."

             "Passive smoking was associated with a significant decrease (approx. 20%) of aortic distensibility, a finding which denotes deterioration of the elastic properties, or in other words, stiffening of the aorta. The large arteries stiffen with passive smoking."

             "Because aortic elastic properties are major determinants of left ventricular power output, aortic stiffening with passive smoking burdens function of the heart itself. In addition, since aortic elastic properties influence coronary blood flow, decreased aortic distensibility compromises perfusion of the heart . . . . The impact of this deleterious effect of passive smoking may be greater in sensitive populations such as children or elderly or in patients who suffer from heart failure, coronary artery disease or hypertension." For more information, see Christodoulos Stefanadis MD, "Effect of passive smoking on the elastic properties of the human aorta: a non-invasive study."

              Related studies by Dr. John D. Folts of Seabrook Island, South Carolina, show that "smoking stimulates the formation of clots that reduce blood flow to such an extent that the heart beats out of control and causes sudden death. . . . his research shows that cigarette smoke overcomes the beneficial effects that aspirin has in preventing clots."—"Smoking Causes Clots, Reduces Blood to Heart," 28 Smoke Signals (#4) 8 (April 1982).

    "The heart beat is controlled by electrical impulses. When the timing or frequency of these electrical impulses are disrupted, arrhythmias develop. Some arrhythmias are quite serious," says "About Heart Disease," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (15 Nov 2007). For background on electromagnetic fields, see "Electromagnetic Fields."

    About 59 million Americans have heart disease, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 950,000 people die of heart disease each year, making it the leading cause of death in the United States, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

    "The sedative effect of tobacco upon the brain is so great that it often requires an act of the will to stimulate the involuntary muscles to action, so that when sleep arrests this will-power these muscles cease to act, the breathing stops, and the person is found dead in his bed—'from heart-disease' say his friends, but in reality from tobacco-paralysis of the heart and muscles of inspiration."—John B. Wight, Tobacco: Its Use and Abuse (Columbia: L. L. Pickett Pub Co, 1889), p 56.

              See also other pertinent studies:

  • Khalfen ES, and Klochkov VA, "Effect of Passive Smoking on the Physical Tolerance of Ischemic Heart Disease Patients," 59 Ter Arkh (Russ) 112-115 (1987)

  • Davis JW, Shelton L, Watanabe IS, Arnold J, "Passive Smoking Affects Endothelium and Platelets," 149 Arch Intern Med 386-389 (1989)

  • Glantz SA and Parmley WW, "Passive Smoking and Heart Disease: Epidemiology, Physiology, and Biochemistry," 83 Circulation 1-2 (1991)

  • Feldman J, Shenker IR, Etzel RA, et al., "Passive Smoking alters Lipid Profiles in Adolescents," 88 Pediatrics 259-264 (1991)

  • Anderson R, Theron AJ, Richards GA, Myer MS, van Rensburg AJ, "Passive Smoking by Humans Sensitizes Circulating Neutrophils," 144 Am J Resp Dis 570-574 (1991)

  • Wells AJ, "Passive Smoking As A Cause of Heart Disease," 24 J Am Coll Cardiol 546-554 (1994)

  • Lam JY, Latour JG, Lesperance J, and Waters D, "Platelet Aggregation, Coronary Artery Disease Progression and Future Coronary events," 73 Am J Cardiol 333-338 (1994)

  • Glantz SA and Parmley WW, "Passive Smoking And Heart Disease: Mechanisms and Risks," 273 J Am Med Assn 1047-1053 (1995)
  • Quitting smoking is even more important than exercise. That is, "whereas smokers cut their heart disease risk with exercise, even the most physically active smokers had at least twice the coronary risk as the most sedantary nonsmokers."—JoAnn E. Manson, M.D., Meir Stampfer, et al., New England Journal of Medicine (26 Aug 1999). (A summary of this study was reported in the media, by Sally Squires, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, August 26, 1999; Page A02)

    Study Findings

    Walking at 3 mph or faster at least three hours per week achieved the same reduction in heart disease risk as those who engaged in vigorous exercise such as aerobics, jogging or bicycling. "We've long known that walking was a great exercise for most Americans," said former U.S. surgeon general C. Everett Koop. "But this study shows the strong health benefit that it can have in protecting women against heart disease."

    Regular, vigorous physical activity helps cut the risk of heart disease. Federal guidelines call for 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, if not all, days of the week. Estimates are, however, that 60 percent of Americans do not engage in regular exercise--one reason that rates of obesity and overweight have soared.

    "This study is important because it demonstrates that even moderate levels of exercise, something as simple as walking, can be equally protective against heart disease as more vigorous exercise," said Teri Manolio, director of the epidemiology biometry program at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which sponsored the study.

    "The important caveat is that the heart protection does not apply to casual strolling and window shopping at the mall," said JoAnn E. Manson, professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and lead author of the study.

    Women who walked at 3 mph or faster showed the greatest reduction in heart disease risk. The study found only moderate health benefits from a pace of 2 mph to 2.9 mph, and there was virtually no heart protection from walking more slowly than 2 mph, Manson said.

    The study also underscores the heavy toll cigarettes take on the heart. Whereas smokers cut their heart disease risk with exercise, even the most physically active smokers had at least twice the coronary risk as the most sedentary nonsmokers. "It shows that it is much better to be a nonsmoker and a couch potato," said Meir Stampfer, a co-author of the study. "The number one priority is to quit smoking and then worry about physical activity."

    Walking appears to cut the risk of heart disease by reducing blood pressure, blood sugar and blood cholesterol levels. Walking also improves insulin sensitivity and reduces blood clot formation. "All have favorable effects on heart disease risk," Manson said.

    "It [the study] shows that it is much better to be a nonsmoker and a couch potato. The number one priority is to quit smoking and then worry about physical activity," according to Meir Stampfer, a co-author.

    Doing brisk walking along with other vigorous physical benefits had strong additive effects, the study found. "If you are already going to the gym every day, keep doing it," said Noel Baireymerz, chairman of the prevention committee for the American College of Cardiology. "But for all those people who say they can't exercise, this study is saying, 'Yes, you can, by doing brisk walking.'"

    "It just suggests that you don't need to be a marathon runner," Manson said. "If every woman were to adopt three hours a week of brisk walking, it would substantially reduce heart attack risk."

    One hour of brisk walking at 3 mph or more has roughly the same health benefit of:
    Aerobics: 40 min Basketball: 30 min Jogging: 30 min Roller skating: 45 min Running: 20 min Squash: 20 min Swimming: 20 min

              The tobacco problem is so severe, and worldwide, that the World Health Organization deems tobacco smoking conduct (alias environmental tobacco smoke) a real and substantial threat to health, causing death and suffering throughout the world, and an estimated 10 million casualties per year.

    Sudden Deaths from Tobacco
    1798 1845 1882 1909 1912 1916 1929

    Here is the context as explained to a smoker: "the trouble is, your safety margin is used up, your reserve is gone. Your heart, liver and kidneys have carried such a heavy burden, done so much overwork for years that they are worn out. Your blood-vessels are hardened and shrunken, greatly increasing the work of the heart, while the heart is degenerated and weakened, the usual effects of nicotine; and so a vicious circle is formed. You are like a man whose once great bank balance of millions has been reduced by extravagance to a few cents. His fortune is gone. Economy and reform will not bring it back. We will do our best for you. But with heart and kidneys both so badly damaged, there is little on which to base an extended life expectancy."—John H. Kellogg, M.D., LL.D., F.A.C.S., Tobaccoism, or, How Tobacco Kills (Battle Creek, Michigan: The Modern Medicine Publishing Co, 1922), p 4.

    Here is an example of how a smoker's sudden death can come about: One day you need your extra reserve (for example, because you are in surgery for some condition) from your heart. Worn out, it cannot deliver. It suddenly fails.—sudden death!

    "Nicotine, after you have used it awhile, puts you in a condition to be 'bumped off' by the first thing that hits you. If you saw some men undermine a building until it was ready to topple into the street, and then saw a woman hit the building with a baby carriage and make it topple, you would not say the woman wrecked the building, would you? Yet when a smoker dies of pneumonia, the doctor's death certificate gives pneumonia, and not tobacco, as the cause of death. And the tombstone man with his chisel says nothing at all. What a shock people would get if they went through cemeteries and saw tombstones, declaring this man died of typhoid made fatal by a tobacco-weakened heart, and that man succumbed to nervous prostration because tobacco had shot his nerves to pieces, and another one gave up the ghost because tobacco had ruined his stomach."—Daniel H. Kress, M.D., The Cigarette As A Physician Sees It (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Pub Ass'n, 1931), p 7.

              Underlying the adverse impact of cigarettes' toxic chemicals on the body, damaging the immune system, is the fact that cigarettes contain well-established deleterious ingredients. This fact is so well-established in medicine that an appellate court took judicial notice of the fact, in the case of Banzhaf v F.C.C., 132 US App DC 14, 29; 405 F2d 1082, 1097 (1968) cert den 396 US 842 (1969). For details, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Reducing the Health Consequences of Smoking: 25 Years of Progress: a Report of the Surgeon General, Publication CDC 89-8411, Table 7, pp 86-87 (1989), lists examples of deleterious ingredients including but not limited to:

    acetaldehyde (1.4+ mg)arsenic (500+ ng)benzo(a)pyrene (.1+ ng)
    cadmium (1,300+ ng)crotonaldehyde (.2+ µg)chromium (1,000+ ng)
    ethylcarbamate 310+ ng)formaldehyde (1.6+ µg)hydrazine (14+ ng)
    lead (8+ µg)nickel (2,000+ ng)radioactive polonium (.2+ Pci)

              Actually, judicial notice of cigarettes' deleteriousness was taken as long ago as pursuant to an 1897 Tennessee law, in Austin v State, 101 Tenn 563; 566-7; 48 SW 305, 306; 70 Am St Rep 703 (1898) affirmed 179 US 343 (1900). Michigan soon thereafter passed a law banning unsafe cigarettes, law number MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216.

              Due to cigarettes' deleterious nature and ingredients, they, when lit, emit deleterious emissions. The Department of Health, Education and Welfare (DHEW), Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, PHS Pub 1103, Table 4, p 60 (1964), lists examples of deleterious emissions (contrasted to the chemicals' "speed limits" set by the safety rule 29 CFR § 1910.1000) including but not limited to:

    Chemical
    Quantity
    "Speed Limit"
    acetaldehyde 3,200 ppm
    200.0 ppm
    acrolein 150 ppm
    0.5 ppm
    ammonia 300 ppm
    150.0 ppm
    carbon monoxide 42,000 ppm
    100.0 ppm
    formaldehyde 30 ppm
    5.0 ppm
    hydrogen cyanide 1,600 ppm
    10.0 ppm
    hydrogen sulfide 40 ppm
    20.0 ppm
    methyl chloride 1,200 ppm
    100.0 ppm
    nitrogen dioxide 250 ppm
    5.0 ppm

              In view of the above data, we now know that an underlying factor in the massive adverse effects cigarettes cause, is that their vast quantities of toxic chemicals impair the immune system. The underlying fact about tobacco smoke is that its massive quantities of toxic chemicals cause

    "mutations of cellular genetic structures, deviation of cellular characteristics from their optimal normal state [leading to] a body-wide spectrum of disease."—R. T. Ravenholt, M.D., M.P.H., writing in 307 N Eng J Med (5) 312 (29 July 1982).

    "Loss of activation of [normality] leads to a variety of immunologic disorders characterized by autoimmunity or immunodeficiency . . . Major immunologic abnormalities result from alterations in the mature T-cell subsets."—Ellis L. Reinherz, M.D. and Stuart F. Schlossman, M.D., "Regulation of the Immune Response--Inducer and Suppressor T-Lymphocyte Subsets in Human Beings," 303 N Engl J Med 370-373 (14 Aug 1980).

              In the late 1930's, doctors ascertained significant data on smoking and heart disease. "The works of Dr. [Raymond] Pearl and of Drs. English, Willus and Berkson at the Mayo Foundation have been epochal in their significance, showing that coronary disease of the heart is six times as prevalent among heavy smokers as among nonsmokers and that the mortality rate among heavy smokers between the ages of thirty and fifty is approximately twice as high as that of nonsmokers. Dr. Pearl's report and graph in reference to the comparative death rates of smokers and nonsmokers were published in Science magazine on March 4, 1938, and the report of the Mayo medical scientists was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association on October 19, 1940."—Frank L. Wood, M.D., What You Should Know About Tobacco (Wichita, KS: The Wichita Publishing Co, 1944), p 33.

              Dr. Wood reported that with almost no exceptions the media suppressed, censored and refused to report this data. He deemed this refusal of reporting to be a "malicious dereliction of duty," and that the "natural and probable consequence" of this censorship would be millions of deaths, people "who will go on smoking indefinitely, oblivious of the danger to their health and their very lives to which are" being subjected. Dr. Wood correctly saw that "through the influence of money and the tobacco companies, the press has suppressed or withheld the facts concerning tobacco toxicity from the American people." Wood, supra, p 33.

              "Most smokers do not view themselves at increased risk of heart disease or cancer."—John P. Ayanian, M.D., M.P.P., Paul J. Cleary, Ph.D., "Perceived Risks of Heart Disease and Cancer Among Cigarette Smokers," 281 J Am Med Ass'n (11) 1019-1021 (17 March 1999). Wherefore they do not see the danger that smoking poses to nonsmokers. Wherefore nonsmokers' -- children and adults -- only advance protection is enforcement of pertinent cigarette control laws, including prosecution of the pushers on murder charges pursuant to the transferred intent doctrine. To protect YOU, seek prosecution for the deaths of smokers and other nonsmokers killed by cigarettes. After-the-fact prosecution of the killer(s) is too little, too late for those already deceased, but it can serve to protect you. Providing money damages to survivors, while essential and better than nothing, does not vindicate the laws against intentional poisonings and killings, does not fully protect YOU. To protect yourself, your family, indeed, all of us, it is essential that your area prosecutors be caused to enforce the laws against poisoning and murder.

    "When we see a man whipping a good horse that is going fast enough, we feel angry. Now, the heart is like a willing horse. When it is making its seventy beats in a minute, it is going fast enough. It is unnecessary and foolish to use any thing that will act as a whip does on a horse, and make it beat faster. That is just what [tobacco] does. If it is beating seventy times in a minute, a little [smoking] will often make it beat seventy-four or seventy-five times in a minute. Four or five beats in a minute make a great many extra beats in a day. All these extra beats are labor lost. They are using the strength, without doing a particle of good."—William Thayer Smith, Ph.D., Primer of Physiology and Hygiene (New York: Ivison, Blakeman & Co, 1885), p 46.

    "The beats of a healthy heart are regular and steady, like the working of a steam-engine. When the heart is out of order, its beating is irregular and unsteady. One of the causes of such a condition is tobacco," Smith, supra, p 47. "When a doctor says that Mr. A or Mr. B has a 48‘smoker's heart,' he means that he has got his heart into this unsteady state by smoking or chewing tobacco," pp 47-48.

             In 1909, during the administration of three-term activist Governor Fred Warner, the Michigan legislature passed a law forbidding manufacture, giveaway, and sale of deleterious and adulterated cigarettes. (As with any other product, safe ones are allowed. The idea of the safe cigarettes law is to halt the fact that smokers are discriminated against by being the only people regularly sold a known deleterious ingredient. Other deleterious products are taken off the market as soon as deleteriousness is known. Smokers are thus the only group denied the benefit of standard product protection law.) The safe cigarettes law, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, bans

    "any person within the state" from action that "manufactures, sells or gives to anyone, any cigarette containing any ingredient deleterious to health or foreign to tobacco . . . ."

             Of course, due to cigarettes' other adverse effects, the law has the side benefit of potentially eliminating other cigarette adverse consequences as well, effects detailed at other sections of this website.

              Pursuant to standard lawbook definitions, nonsmokers' involuntary foreseeable deaths constitute murder. The high number of deaths is a holocaust according to the Royal Society of Physicians' 1971 criteria, and is part of the total genocide problem. A Michigan law seeks to ban the underlying factor in the lifestyle of death. Michigan Governor Engler [1991-2002] and staff were paper supportive of action to enforce it, issuing five pertinent memoranda.

    Heart Attack Signs: Repeated Pain Sets In (by Dr. Chauncy Crandall, with recommended lifestyle changes).

    Exec Order 1992-3
    Law Support Letter # 1
    Anti-Cigarette Smuggling Finding
    Law Support Letter # 2
    Governor's Overview

             What this site is asking is your help in (a) getting the Michigan safe cigarettes law enforced, and (b) getting all other governments to pass the same law in their areas. Please help us save lives, prevent premature deaths, by preventing unsafe cigarettes and their posing a risk factor in heart disease.

             To fight this problem, here are four sample letters. Sample "A" is to Governor Rick Snyder, M.B.A., J.D., asking him to have the State Police enforce the law. Sample "B" is to Attorney General William Schuette asking him to enforce the law. Each has the authority to help. As both the Governor and Attorney General are lawyers, the letters are written in "legalese." Sample letter "C" is to the Michigan State Police Director asking for enforcement. Sample letter "D" is different, and is for you to send where the government still ignores the cigarettes-heart disease link. It is to be sent to the President, Congress, other Governors, and state legislators.

    * * * Sample Letter A * * *

    Honorable Rick Snyder
    Governor, State of Michigan
    P. O. Box 30013
    Lansing MI 48909-7513

    Dear Governor Snyder:

             This is a request that, to help prevent one of the risk factors in heart disease, you assign the Michigan State Police to enforce the safe cigarettes law, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216.

              Cigarettes are a risk factor in heart disease. Cigarettes' deleterious chemicals depress the immune system. So cigarettes are not only the general No. 1 cause of premature death, they also have a role as a risk factor in heart disease. Medical evidence shows that exposure to tobacco smoking conduct increases nonsmokers' risk of heart disease by 25%. Smokers' risk of heart disease from smoking is increased 65%.

    "Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States . . . 1995 . . . 481,287 deaths . . . . To achieve a meaningful reduction in the burden to society of coronary heart disease, both passive and active smoking must be targeted . . . The only safe way to protect nonsmokers from exposure to cigarette smoke is to eliminate this health hazard from public places and workplaces, as well as from the home," see Jiang He, M.D., Ph.D., Suma Vupputuri, M.P.H., Krista Allen, M.P.H., Monica R. Prerost, M.S., Janet Hughes, Ph.D., and Paul K. Whelton, M.D., "Passive Smoking and The Risk of Coronary Heart Disease -- A Meta-Analysis of Epidemiolgic Studies," 340 N England J Med (12) 920-926 (25 March 1999).

              The cigarette-heart disease link occurs because of cigarettes' numerous toxic chemicals. The safe cigarettes act, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, bans unsafe cigarettes. It forbids "any person within the state" from action that "manufactures, sells or gives to anyone, any cigarette containing any ingredient deleterious to health or foreign to tobacco . . . ." Please, as a heart disease prevention measure, assign the Michigan State Police to enforce it, and aid county sheriffs and local police departments to do likewise.

             All cigarettes are deleterious, their label admits they are, and most if not all are adulterated with additives. MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, puts personal responsibility on those with most knowledge of the contraband substance (manufacturers and sellers), not on unwary consumers, often children.

             State Police enforcement action is a normal action that they do in other state-wide law violation situations. There are precedents as well. Austin v State, 101 Tenn 563; 48 SW 305; 70 Am St Rep 703 (1898) aff'd 179 US 343 (1898); Shimp v N J Bell Tele Co, 145 N J Super 516; 368 A2d 408 (1976); Commonwealth v Hughes, 468 Pa 502; 364 A2d 306 (1976); and Smith v Western Elec Co, 643 SW2d 10, 13 (Mo App, 1982).

             As a matter of preventing heart disease, the Michigan safe cigarettes law needs to be enforced. Please help. The law against this deleterious and adulterated product needs to be enforced. Please assign the State Police to protect abulic smokers, children, and nonsmokers, by enforcing the safe cigarettes act, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216. Please have them halt the rampant violations, and interdict deleterious and adulterated cigarettes.

    Respectfully,

    * * * Sample Letter B * * *

    Honorable William Schuette
    Attorney General, State of Michigan
    P. O. Box 30213
    Lansing MI 48909

    Dear Attorney General Cox:

             This is a request that, to help prevent one of the risk factors in heart disease, you take "cease and desist" action to stop violations of the safe cigarettes law, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216.

              Cigarettes are a risk factor in heart disease. Cigarettes' deleterious chemicals depress the immune system. So cigarettes are not only the general No. 1 cause of premature death, they also have a role as a risk factor in heart disease. Medical evidence shows that exposure to tobacco smoking conduct increases nonsmokers' risk of heart disease by 25%. Smokers' risk of heart disease from smoking is increased 65%.

    "Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States . . . 1995 . . . 481,287 deaths . . . . To achieve a meaningful reduction in the burden to society of coronary heart disease, both passive and active smoking must be targeted . . . The only safe way to protect nonsmokers from exposure to cigarette smoke is to eliminate this health hazard from public places and workplaces, as well as from the home," see Jiang He, M.D., Ph.D., Suma Vupputuri, M.P.H., Krista Allen, M.P.H., Monica R. Prerost, M.S., Janet Hughes, Ph.D., and Paul K. Whelton, M.D., "Passive Smoking and The Risk of Coronary Heart Disease -- A Meta-Analysis of Epidemiolgic Studies," 340 N England J Med (12) 920-926 (25 March 1999).

              The cigarette-heart disease link occurs because of cigarettes' numerous toxic chemicals. The safe cigarettes act, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, bans unsafe cigarettes. It forbids "any person within the state" from action that "manufactures, sells or gives to anyone, any cigarette containing any ingredient deleterious to health or foreign to tobacco . . . ." Please, as a heart disease prevention measure, take "cease and desist" action to stop the rampant violations of the law. "Cease and desist" action is an action you take in other state-wide law violation cases. Please, as a heart disease prevention measure, do that in this situation.

             All cigarettes are deleterious, their label admits they are, and most if not all are adulterated with additives. MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, puts personal responsibility on those with most knowledge of the contraband substance (manufacturers and sellers), not on unwary consumers, often children.

             "Cease and desist" action is a normal action that you do in other state-wide law violation situations. There are precedents, for example, Austin v State, 101 Tenn 563; 48 SW 305; 70 Am St Rep 703 (1898) aff'd 179 US 343 (1898); Shimp v N J Bell Tele Co, 145 N J Super 516; 368 A2d 408 (1976); Commonwealth v Hughes, 468 Pa 502; 364 A2d 306 (1976); and Smith v Western Elec Co, 643 SW2d 10, 13 (Mo App, 1982).

             As a matter of preventing heart disease, the Michigan safe cigarettes law needs to be enforced. Please help. The law against this deleterious and adulterated product needs to be enforced. Please take "cease and desist" action to protect abulic smokers, children, and nonsmokers, by enforcing the safe cigarettes act, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216. Please take "cease and desist" action to halt the rampant violations.

    Respectfully,

    * * * Sample Letter C * * *

    Col. Kristie Etue, Director
    Department of State Police
    333 S. Grand Ave.
    P. O. Box 30634
    Lansing, MI 48909-0634

    Dear Col. Etue:

    This is a request that, to help prevent one of the risk factors in heart disease, you assign officers to enforce the safe cigarettes law, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216.

              Cigarettes are a risk factor in heart disease. Cigarettes' deleterious chemicals depress the immune system. So cigarettes are not only the general No. 1 cause of premature death, they also have a role as a risk factor in heart disease. Medical evidence shows that exposure to tobacco smoking conduct increases nonsmokers' risk of heart disease by 25%. Smokers' risk of heart disease from smoking is increased 65%.

    "Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States . . . 1995 . . . 481,287 deaths . . . . To achieve a meaningful reduction in the burden to society of coronary heart disease, both passive and active smoking must be targeted . . . The only safe way to protect nonsmokers from exposure to cigarette smoke is to eliminate this health hazard from public places and workplaces, as well as from the home," see Jiang He, M.D., Ph.D., Suma Vupputuri, M.P.H., Krista Allen, M.P.H., Monica R. Prerost, M.S., Janet Hughes, Ph.D., and Paul K. Whelton, M.D., "Passive Smoking and The Risk of Coronary Heart Disease -- A Meta-Analysis of Epidemiolgic Studies," 340 N England J Med (12) 920-926 (25 March 1999).

              The cigarette-heart disease link occurs because of cigarettes' numerous toxic chemicals. The safe cigarettes act, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, bans unsafe cigarettes. It forbids "any person within the state" from action that "manufactures, sells or gives to anyone, any cigarette containing any ingredient deleterious to health or foreign to tobacco . . . ." Please, as a heart disease prevention measure, work with prosecutors on this subject, assign officers to enforce the law, and aid county sheriffs and local police departments to do likewise.

             All cigarettes are deleterious, their label admits they are, and most if not all are adulterated with additives. MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, puts personal responsibility on those with most knowledge of the contraband substance (manufacturers and sellers), not on unwary consumers, often children.

             State Police enforcement action is a normal action that officers do in other state-wide law violation situations. There are precedents as well. Austin v State, 101 Tenn 563; 48 SW 305; 70 Am St Rep 703 (1898) aff'd 179 US 343 (1898); Shimp v N J Bell Tele Co, 145 N J Super 516; 368 A2d 408 (1976); Commonwealth v Hughes, 468 Pa 502; 364 A2d 306 (1976); and Smith v Western Elec Co, 643 SW2d 10, 13 (Mo App, 1982).

             As a matter of preventing heart disease, the Michigan safe cigarettes law needs to be enforced. Please help. The law against this deleterious and adulterated product needs to be enforced. Please assign officers to protect abulic smokers, children, and nonsmokers, by enforcing the safe cigarettes act, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216. Please have them halt the rampant violations, and interdict deleterious and adulterated cigarettes.

    Respectfully,

    * * * Sample Letter D * * *

    President Barack ObamaU.S. Senator _______U.S. Representative __Governor ___ State Senator __State Representative __
    1600 Pennsylvania AvenueSenate Office BuildingHouse Office BuildingState CapitolState CapitolState Capitol
    Washington DC 20500Washington DC 20510Washington DC 20515City State ZipCity State ZipCity State Zip

             This is a request that you take action to get a law passed that will serve as a heart disease prevention law. Michigan already has such a law. It is law number MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216. It deals with the cigarette link to heart disease.

              Cigarettes are a risk factor in heart disease. Cigarettes' deleterious chemicals depress the immune system. So cigarettes are not only the general No. 1 cause of premature death, they also have a role as a risk factor in heart disease. Medical evidence shows that exposure to tobacco smoking conduct increases nonsmokers' risk of heart disease by 25%. Smokers' risk of heart disease from smoking is increased 65%.

    "Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States . . . 1995 . . . 481,287 deaths . . . . To achieve a meaningful reduction in the burden to society of coronary heart disease, both passive and active smoking must be targeted . . . The only safe way to protect nonsmokers from exposure to cigarette smoke is to eliminate this health hazard from public places and workplaces, as well as from the home," see Jiang He, M.D., Ph.D., Suma Vupputuri, M.P.H., Krista Allen, M.P.H., Monica R. Prerost, M.S., Janet Hughes, Ph.D., and Paul K. Whelton, M.D., "Passive Smoking and The Risk of Coronary Heart Disease -- A Meta-Analysis of Epidemiolgic Studies," 340 N England J Med (12) 920-926 (25 March 1999).

              The cigarette-heart disease link occurs because of cigarettes numerous toxic chemicals. The Michigan safe cigarettes act, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, bans unsafe cigarettes. Please, as a heart disease prevention measure, get a copy of that law, which in essence forbids "any person within the state" from action that "manufactures, sells or gives to anyone, any cigarette containing any ingredient deleterious to health or foreign to tobacco . . . ."

             All cigarettes are deleterious, their label admits they are, and most if not all are adulterated with additives. MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, puts personal responsibility on those with most knowledge of the contraband substance (manufacturers and sellers), not on unwary consumers, often children. Michigan's well-written heart disease prevention act deals with one of the key risk factors, unsafe cigarettes, and bans them. We need the same law for the protection and benefit of everyone. Smokers should not be discriminated against by being the only people regularly sold a deleterious product. Other deleterious products are recalled and taken off the market.

             As a matter of preventing heart disease, everyone needs you to take action to get a safe cigarettes act passed. Please take action to copy the Michigan safe cigarettes law, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, so all of us can benefit from its wise prevention-oriented approach.

    Respectfully,

    * * * * *

    Please re-type, add recipient addresses where unlisted,
    add your name and return address, sign, and mail the above letters.
    The person you save may be yourself or your friend.
    If you wish, you can use different wording.

    * * * * *

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