I nominated 'Professor' Mike Kelly (of NICE) as the new 'Sir' Liam Donaldson/Deborah Arnott* a couple of days ago, so I now follow his activities with a keen professional interest (lest I have misjudged him).
It would appear not:
"During pregnancy, smoking puts the health of the women and her unborn baby at great risk both in the short and long-term, and small children who are exposed to second-hand smoke are more likely to suffer from respiratory problems," Professor Mike Kelly, Nice director of the centre of public health excellence, said.
"One of our recommendations is for midwives to encourage all pregnant women to have their carbon monoxide levels tested and discuss the results with them. This isn't to penalise them if they have been smoking, but instead will be a useful way to show women that both smoking and passive smoking can lead to having high levels of carbon monoxide in their systems."
* Who must be seething with rage and envy. Until a couple of months ago, nearly every BBC article on the dangers of smoking included a rent-a-quote from her or her husband but this part of the BBC's style guide appears to have been amended.
A grim document
8 hours ago
3 comments:
And the 'scientific' study that shows 'second-hand' smoke to be harmful is.....?
Anecdotally (and therefore no use as "evidence" except when used by ASH and the like as reinforcement)...
I'm in my 60s, have three brothers and (still) a lot of friends from my childhood. ALL our mothers smoked like chimneys, before, during and after pregnancy, ditto our fathers. I don't recall a single case of asthma when I was at school and as far as I'm aware, none of my friends are suffering from respiratory problems causeed by "second-hand smoke" - I'll admit that one suffers from severe emphysema, but that's more likely a consequence of smoking 60 unfiltered Capstans for 30 years before he switched over to, slightly, milder fags.
WFW, they have repeated this lie often enough for it to be elevated to 'fact'.
P, yes of course. Plenty of people have pointed out that asthma has little to do with smoking, as the number of smokers has steadily declined over the last 50 years, but the number of cases of asthma etc. is (allegedly) steadily rising.
Post a Comment