Seven Medical Myths Even Doctors Believe

[Morpheus]

Originally Posted by j.nc

Glad you asked and I’ll have to dig something up or see if my memory is correct or my assumptions are incorrect. Basing it off a talk given about medical studies and reporting by the popular press by a UNC professor a while back. The gist of it was that actual controlled studies did not find a link between exposure and disease caused by the exposure (these were not funded by the tobacco lobby). On the other hand the statements issued by the SG and CDC, etc. use wording to the effect “evidence is sufficient to infer a causal relationship between secondhand smoke [and disease]” without the hard data provided by valid studies* to prove something beyond causal inference.

That is why I worded it as “propagating "fact" when it ain't proven”. Not saying it cannot be proven as fact.

I think my lead-in sentence using, loosely “debunking a myth”, was poorly worded and mislead from my rambling point.

*valid studies = significant population size, valid sampling, bias exclusion, etc.

no "soft" language here...

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_stat...dhandSmoke.htm

* Secondhand smoke exposure causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults.2
* Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their heart disease risk by 25–30% and their lung cancer risk by 20–30%.2
* Breathing secondhand smoke has immediate harmful effects on the cardiovascular system that can increase the risk of heart attack. People who already have heart disease are at especially high risk.2
* Secondhand smoke exposure causes respiratory symptoms in children and slows their lung growth.2
* Secondhand smoke causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more frequent and severe asthma attacks in children.2
* There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure. Even brief exposure can be dangerous.2