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Washington Adventist, Shady Grove Adventist, Suburban, Montgomery General, Holy Cross and Frederick Memorial are the latest in Maryland to enact a stricter ban. They join major companies such as Bethesda defense and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin Corp. and other hospitals including Greater Baltimore Medical Center. Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, where it is responsible for about 438,000 deaths annually, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 38,000 die because of secondhand smoke exposure, the agency says. Cigarette smoking costs more than $167 billion in lost employee productivity and medical expenses, according to the center. Health care costs related to secondhand smoke run about $10 billion annually.
Novel MRI technique shows secondhand smoke damages lungs
CHICAGO � For the first time, researchers have identified structural damage to the lungs caused by secondhand cigarette smoke. The results of the study, conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville and The Children�s Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, were presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). �It�s long been hypothesized that prolonged exposure to secondhand smoke may cause physical damage to the lungs, but previous methods of analyzing lung changes were not sensitive enough to detect it,� said Chengbo Wang, Ph.D., magnetic resonance physicist in the Department of Radiology at The Children�s Hospital of Philadelphia. In recent years, secondhand smoke has emerged as a public health threat.
Asthma care guidelines are released
Asthma control and prevention of attacks are the focus of new national asthma guidelines released by the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's National Asthma Education and Prevention Program. The 23 million Americans --including 6.5 million children -- with asthma can avoid serious symptoms and disability if they follow these latest guidelines to keep their asthma under control, said the experts who wrote the guidelines. .
Marchand's the man
CANADA-RUSSIA CHALLENGE - Brad Marchand of Hammonds Plains scored in regulation and potted the shootout winner as the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League all-stars edged the Russian Selects 3-2 in the Canada-Russia Challenge last night in Gatineau, Que. .
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