Asthma incidence in under 15-year-olds has increased from 5.8 per 10,000 in 1970 to 35.8 per 10,000 in 1997.

(These are hospital discharge figures, not initial diagnoses.) During the same period, smoking rates dropped

from 40% to 24% and according to the CDC, exposure of children to ETS decreased 75%.

(The National Asthma Campaign, American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, Jim Pirkle MD, PhD,

CDC's Environmental Laboratory)

If this is a printed page, TURN IT OVER - MORE INFO on BACK

IF TRUTH IS ON THEIR SIDE, WHY DO THEY LIE?

Although I might expect genetics to be at the root of some of this as in many

other things, I doubt the genetics of our population could have changed that

much, that fast. I would LOVE to see a study on this, and I'll bet I never will.

The tobacco witch has already been tied to the stake, and the fire lit. Nobody

in their right mind is going to fund such studies, even if anyone had the temerity

to suggest them.

And WOW - another HUGE profit center for the drug companies! Asthma drugs

and treatments! Even if we could PROVE second hand smoke HELPED

PREVENT asthma, and from the looks of THIS data, that should be a SNAP,
I would expect the drug companies to fight that

tooth and nail to protect their profits. Don't know how you all feel, but lately I've

been getting chills every time I see another slick drug company ad on TV.

All these new commercials for Clorox wipes (get rid of that nasty sponge), and - I forget what they're

called, but the little girl who plays with the ball in the playground then must wipe her hands, like Monk -

is a bit scary to me. My grandma, a VERY wise woman, always said,

'You have to eat your peck of dirt before you die'.

I use my sponge to get rid of all the food from the counter, so it won't be there as food for the bacteria. That

should take care of most of them, as bacteria have to eat to live, too. The soap and hot water I wash the

sponge with regularly should kill most of the ones in the sponge, too. I've never worried about a few

stray germs. Don't know how anyone could maintain sanity if they did. But I always figured that some

low level exposure to various organisms keeps our immune system sharp. And possible, not enough regular

exposure to innocuous microbes could cause the immune system to over react to things it shouldn't react

to. I haven't seen a study about that, but there do seem to be a lot more allergies (not just asthma),

and auto immune diseases than in the past.