Smoking and heart disease
Nowadays there are many health related programmes on satellite television channels, which are very encouraging. Many physicians come on TV and answers questions of the viewers. However, it is sad to get the wrong information from them. I was watching one such programme and one of the doctors was saying that there was no relationship between heart attack and smoking. This is not true.
From the American Heart Association website, “ Many studies detail the evidence that cigarette smoking is a major cause of coronary heart disease, which leads to heart attack.” There are numerous articles written in http://jama.ama-assn.org on this topic.
Since majority of the people in Bangladesh do not have any Internet access, this information is useless. Their main sources of information are TV and newspapers.
The programme host being a doctor should check the validity of this type of answers.
While many developed countries are trying hard to discourage smoking-- raising prices, taxes, and not providing health-benefit to the smokers; talking irresponsibly on TV about smoking is tantamount to misleading people.
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