British scientists have found that after strict measures were taken in England against smokers, the number of children in hospitals with severe asthma attacks decreased markedly.
A study showed that in the first year after the ban on smoking in enclosed spaces (bars, restaurants, offices, etc.), 12% fewer children with an acute asthma attack were delivered to hospitals than the year before.
How exactly this can be interconnected, the researchers do not specify. According to them, these data were unexpected for them. However, as the authors of the study note, there is more and more evidence that many people stop smoking at home too.
A group of researchers from Imperial College London studied the statistics of the National Health Service since 2002.
Presenting the results of their work in the journal Paediatrics, scientists reported that before the introduction of the restriction on smoking in July 2007, the number of children admitted to hospitals with severe asthma attacks increased by more than 2% per year.
Taking this into account, they calculated that the reduction in this number in the next 12 months was 12% and another 3% in each subsequent year. According to them, in general, over the three-year period since July 2007, this is equivalent to 6,800 cases.
Before the ban on smoking, a significant part of the debate concentrated on the issue of protecting the staff of bars and restaurants from secondhand smoke.
At that time, many critics of the bill expressed concern that smokers would more often indulge in their habit at home, thus harming their loved ones. However, according to the authors of this study, they see more and more signs that more and more people are requiring household members not to smoke at home.