Smoking on board...

[marklodi]

I know by posting this, I'm opening up a BIG can of worms. :) But this news article I just read seemed pretty important, and could have a significant impact on smoking on Cruise ships.

 

Quote:

 

...[The Researchers] discovered nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke had up to a 60 percent greater risk of heart attacks — twice as much as previous studies had reported. It suggests secondhand smoke may be responsible for up to 80,000 heart attacks each year in the United States.

 

Another surprise from this study: You don't have to inhale much secondhand smoke to start experiencing the harmful effects on the heart, blood and blood vessels.

 

"Those heart attacks occur with low levels of exposure and they occur very soon after people get exposed," said Stanton Glantz of the University of California at San Francisco, one of the country's leading researchers on the effects of tobacco.

 

Glantz said the study should come as a wake-up call to many communities

 

"In the past I had thought you had to get a lot of secondhand smoke. You had to be hanging out in a bar," he said. "And what this is showing is that just about any exposure you get is causing substantial increase in risk."

 

In short, Glantz said, just being near someone smoking a few cigarettes a day is almost like being a light smoker yourself. Secondhand tobacco smoke exposure can give you almost the same risk of a heart attack as if you smoked one to nine cigarettes a day.....

 

End quote. The full article can be found on ABC News here:

Hard Evidence

Study: Secondhand Smoke Is Much More Dangerous Than First Thought

 

Okay folks...discussion? What could or should the impact of this study be on the cruise lines?

[GoinCruisin]

Okay, my .02.... I know people that have smoked all their lives and had no health problems, but I also know people that have smoked 10 years and had significant health problems... I know people that have been around smokers and in bars alot, with and without health problems... there will always be controversy around this issue... I have many opinions about it but I think I will keep them to myself... All I am saying is that if you believe everything you read in the papers or hear on the news as to what is good/not good for you, you will be one confused soul....

[L2J]

I know by posting this, I'm opening up a BIG can of worms. :) But this news article I just read seemed pretty important, and could have a significant impact on smoking on Cruise ships.

 

Oh YES you have.

 

I doubt that any new "discoveries" on the evils of smoking will have any impact on the Cruise industry. Remember the Paradise?

 

Maybe we should just hit that little triangle now?

[Cotton]

You certainly have my permission to hit it, Liv. All this type 'discussion' does is cause aggrevation. There are so many nice folks on this board, but sometimes an issue such as this causes NICE folks to be not so nice to other NICE folks. Hit that sucker!

[davidaperryman]

OH HORRORS! RUN! RUN!

 

Where do they come up with these numbers? Proctologists?

[davidaperryman]

EPA: 100 million breathing harmful air

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Twenty-two states are being put on notice that air quality in many of their counties is unhealthy because of tons of microscopic soot from power plants, diesel-burning trucks, cars and factories.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that 243 counties -- mostly in the eastern third of the country -- will probably be found in violation of the federal air standard for soot.

Airborne microscopic soot annually causes 15,000 premature deaths, 95,000 cases of chronic or acute bronchitis, and thousands of hospital admissions because of respiratory or cardiovascular illnesses.

 

So how do you know if someone has heart problems because of second hand smoke or airborne soot? Or something else entirely. Why do doctors want to know your familys medical history?

[jeniceglassman]

Ah comeon, as fat as America has become..it would be a stretch to attach heart attacks to 2nd hand smoke. But not that big of leap to cite poor diet and no exercise choices. So now you want to open a can that contains "good food" and no smoking on a cruise? Probably not. Lets put those "cans of worms" back in the pantry.

[hammybee]

I second that emotion.

[VitSea4me]

I guess my response is as much from an esthetics standpoint as it is from the health concept (I am non-smoker; wife is "rabid" ex-smoker), having recently had to deal with smokers next to us via balcony... I wonder how difficult it would be to separate (or group) smokers & non-smokers (by side of the ship, fore/aft, deck, etc.) so neither group is inconvenienced... I would guess with selection, pricing, dates, it would be a nightmare - but I wonder if it has been tried. JMHO

 

BTW - it looks like the all non-smoking Paradise goes away with the repositioning this fall.

[pholter]

I guess they should probably stop all us smokers from smoking once they ban pizza and high calorie foods from all menus on board the ship :) This is a touchy subject for most on message boards. I agree with Puka n Noodles that it would be great to investigate smoking and non smoking rooms though. It would be hard to enforce though, just like in hotels. Worth a shot in my opinion....

[dsclark]

I don't see any compariosn between smoking and fatty foods. Is there such a thing as second hand pizza ingestation?

Here in NV, we non smokers in the casinos have a higher rate of respiratory problems than non smokers. Gee, I wonder why?

 

My cave tubing trip in Belize was hampered by two smokers who complained about the hike and would stop every ten minutes (They couldn't keep up with us full lung'ed folks) to light up and say "Are we almost there yet?".

 

Second hand smoke is bad. Most of the worst things in it are odorless, like arsenic and carbon monoxide. How much poison should I person be willing endure from a smoker, and, why should they?

[kristikae]

Anyone who puts up the money for a "research study" can get the results they are looking for. I don't pay much attention to studies.

[pholter]

I don't see any compariosn between smoking and fatty foods. Is there such a thing as second hand pizza ingestation?

QUOTE]

As another poster pointed out, our nation is FAT and doesn't exercise, therefore has more heart attacks. Smoking can't be blamed whenever someone has a problem was the point and the habit quickly is blamed for everything that goes wrong medically. My point was that if Carnival takes a stand to help everyone be more healthy, then they should do it all around and not pick just one area- they should protect us from ourselves since most of us don't! :p :)

[GottaLuvCruising]

If a guest eats too much, or eats unhealthy foods, it does not affect others. If a guest exhales filthy smoke and carcinogens (unless confined in their own personal space), it does affect others.

 

Cruises lines, just like most of our society are gradually making the air cleaner and safer. Reports like these will strengthen that endeavor. Sadly, some folks will continue to hide in denial.

[davidaperryman]

And some folks will continue to blame all of their health problems on second hand smoke.

 

Study: Obese kids face heart attack risk

Thursday, July 1, 2004 Posted: 9:20 AM EDT (1320 GMT)

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Extremely obese youngsters can have heart abnormalities that put them at serious risk of heart attacks and chest pains, U.S. researchers have said.

 

The researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center studied 343 patients at the hospital who ranged in age from 5 to 23 but had an average age of 12.

 

The children already had changes in the heart's left ventricle, the pumping chamber of the heart, the researchers found.

 

"Increased thickness of the heart is a risk factor for ischemic heart disease -- heart attack," cardiologist Dr. Tom Kimball said in a statement.

 

"The thicker a patient's heart, the more likely the patient is to potentially have issues with reduced blood flow, leading to a heart attack," he said.

 

The heavier the children, the higher their risk, the researchers told a meeting in San Diego of the American Society of Echocardiography.

[L2J]

I wonder how difficult it would be to separate (or group) smokers & non-smokers (by side of the ship, fore/aft, deck, etc.) so neither group is inconvenienced... I would guess with selection, pricing, dates, it would be a nightmare - but I wonder if it has been tried. JMHO

 

BTW - it looks like the all non-smoking Paradise goes away with the repositioning this fall.

A logistical NIGHTMARE.

 

This isn't "new" news.

[BrendaB1]

BTW - it looks like the all non-smoking Paradise goes away with the repositioning this fall.

 

Guess there are more smokers with $$$ than you think & Carnival recognized it.

[shookdm]

ignoring the cancer issue for a moment: As a nonsmoker, I would love to see more ships limiting smoking poilcies, or at least enforceing those that do exist. I have the misfortune of having trouble breathing whenever I'm around smoke, and would prefer the ability to enjoy a walk on the promenade or sitting in a lounge without having to hold my breath walking through the smoking area or search for a seat away from smokers.

 

In addition to breathing issues, cigarrettes do not smell pleasant, the aroma stays in your clothes even if you were not the one smoking, and many smokers (not all, of course) throw their butts on the ground/over the side/wherever. Litter is deterimental to the environment, whether it be cigarrettes or fast food wrappers or paper cups.

 

I have no desire to make anyone quit smoking (alhtough it would bemore money to spend cruising), but I'd like to avoid having to be a prisoner in my own cabin, and to have more of a choice of where to sit on deck.

 

So, what's the happy medium??

[dms_cruisers04]

A little off topic, but to keep things lite:

 

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on

nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those

conflicting medical studies:

 

1. Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than

Americans.

 

2. Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than

Americans.

 

3. Africans drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks

than Americans.

 

4. The French drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer

heart attacks than Americans.

 

5. Germans drink a lot of beer, eat lots of sausages and fats, yet

still suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

 

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is

apparently what kills you.

[GoinCruisin]

I have to jump in again (dangit!!), but... I have heard for several years all the complaints about non-smokers wanting a non-smoking ship and how horrible it was to sail on a ship with smokers.... so Carnivals answer was the Paradise... did all the people that so desperately wanted a ship JUST like this disappear? If it was such a HUGE problem, then why didn't more people book on the Paradise? Carnival put it's answer to the smoking issue out there, and apparently it was not very successful... the happy medium was The Paradise. For me personally, I know that I was never bothered by smokers on the Sensation and found for the most part (95%) of the people smoking to be obeying the rules and being respectful...

 

This debate will never be settled on a message board...

[serene56]

I think that if Carnivl would have changed Ports of Call more often with the Paradise it woulda have done better. But they saile dit out of the same port for a long time. People do not want to see the same stuff--over and over. They didnt give their non smokers choices.

[MrNobody]

We ARE talking about just tobacco, right??:D ;) :p

[GoinCruisin]

Jake, the wacky tabacky only causes second-hand silliness :D

[Guest Time2gocruzn]

A fat drunk guy who falls asleep and drops his slice of fattening pizza on a cruise ship? NO PROBLEM...:D

 

A fat drunk guy who falls asleep and drops his lit cigarette on a cruise ship? BIG PROBLEM...:eek:

[BillnBobbi]

IF YOU MUST SMOKE, SMOKE SALMON!!!!

 

And that's all I've got to say about that, and I have the T-shirt to prove it!

 

BnB