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O.K., I kinda brought in a ringer to the "second-hand" smoke issue.
I just got off the phone with my mother-in-law, who was a cancer researcher for NCI (National Cancer Institute).
Here is the gist of what she said:
1) Very few people say that second-hand smoke is good for you, but the actual danger of second-hand smoke is very contentious.
2) Hairdressers are in more danger to the chemicals they are around then people being around second-hand smoke.
3) Most of the studies were not done blind, with "true" histories of the subjects. When you go into a study with a specific opinion, you will always come out of the study proving your own point.
4) It is virtually impossible to know, for a fact, everything a person has inhaled in their lives. Because of this, it is next to impossible to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that second-hand smoke is the culprit in every case mentioned.
She likened it to high cholesterol. In the mid-90's, there was a report that high cholesterol "doubled" your chance of having a heart attack. The truth was, that the number went from 3 in a 1000 to 6 in a 1000. By saying the chance "doubled" it led us to believe high cholesterol was a much bigger killer than it was. Yes, in fact, the number doubled, but going from 3 to 6, statistically, is nothing.
And...I'm sure everyone remembers the studies about the health hazards of egg yolks, right? We all believed that one, right? What do we think now?
no references here, I am just offering up info from someone who actually researched cancer.
Edit: BTW, she is a published cancer researcher, if that helps. I read her published thingy--friggin' Greek if you ask me.
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Before you criticize someone, you need to walk a mile in their shoes. That way, if they get angry at you.......you're a mile away.......and they're barefoot.
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