DESIGNATED no-smoking areas in restaurants and clubs provide only partial or no protection against second-hand smoke, Australian researchers have found. Professor Bernard Stewart of the South East Sydney Public Health United in Australia said that, at best, restricted smoking areas halve levels of environmental tobacco smoke. ‘‘No-smoking areas may provide some reduction in the level of exposure of individuals to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). However, the reduction may be marginal or trivial,’’ Stewart said in the journal Tobacco Control. ETS, or second-hand smoke, is a complex mixture of more than 4,000 chemical compounds that are generated from smoking or burning tobacco products. The scientists measured atmospheric nicotine in 17 clubs in and around Sydney. They found levels varied but, on average, if a person moved from a smoking to a non-smoking area it would reduce the amount of nicotine inhaled by about 53 per cent. Aspirin could aggravate your asthmaMANY people with asthma who take pains to avoid substances that may set off attacks may overlook a potential danger in their medicine cabinets, aspirin. Writing in the current issue of BMJ, a British medical journal, researchers say about one adult asthmatic in five can suffer a potentially life-threatening reaction to aspirin. For children with asthma, the rate is 1 in 20. The prevalence is higher than previously suggested, the researchers said. Although most people with asthma can safely take the pain reliever acetaminophen, the drug found in Tylenol, most were also sensitive to pain relievers like ibuprofen. Compiled from Reuters and The New York Times News Service
