Authors Geoffrey Williams, MD, PhD and Roy Korn Jr., MD, both members of the Medical Society of the State of New York Task Force on Tobacco, join Stephen Williams, MD in outlining the known health risks of secondhand smoke (SHS), which kills an estimated 50,000 in the United States alone every year about as many as die from colon cancer. They explain that, "Although certain populations are particularly vulnerable (e.g., children and patients with coronary artery disease or asthma), everyone who is exposed has increased risk for heart and other diseases."
In light of emerging evidence of the broad risks of SHS, the authors propose incorporating new clinical counseling guidelines into the existing 5As model recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a branch of the federal Public Health Service.
Williams et al. propose combined counseling for several reasons. First, given the time pressures on doctors, discussing direct and indirect tobacco exposure at the same time, following the same model, would be more efficient and realistic than following two separate and distinct models. Second, it could exploit the smoker-patient (often a family member) dynamic: Patients who insist on smoke-free home could only lower their own health risks but also make it more probable that the smoker will quit.
As of now, the authors report that pediatricians and family practitioners ask less than half of parents about SHS exposure in the home, and counsel only about one third of smoking parents about how SHS might hurt their c
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Contact: Pam Willenz
pwillenz@apa.org
American Psychological Association
2-Oct-2005