We’ve written about how smoking is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the US.  We’ve also highlighted some of the treatments that our 4,000+ members who report tobacco addiction have tried in their quest to quit.

But today, in honor of World No Tobacco Day, we’d like to focus on the global consequences of secondhand smoke, or the smoke that fills restaurants, offices, homes and other enclosed spaces when people burn tobacco products.  Given that there are one billion smokers around the world, secondhand smoke (also known as “passive smoking”) has become a serious public health issue.

How serious?  Deadly serious.  Here are ten hard-hitting facts from the World Health Organization (WHO), the sponsor of World No Tobacco Day.

• There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.

• There are more than 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful.

• More than 600,000 premature deaths are caused by secondhand smoke each year.

• In 2004, children accounted for 31% of the deaths attributable to secondhand smoke.

• Over 40% of children around the world have at least one parent who smokes.

• Almost half of all children regularly breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke.

• Secondhand smoke can cause sudden death in infants and low birth weight in pregnant women.

• Cigarettes, bidis and water pipes all produce secondhand smoke.

• Less than 11% of the world’s population is protected by comprehensive national smoke-free laws.

• Research shows that smoke-free laws do not harm business – and in fact, are popular.

Want to show your support for World No Tobacco Day?  Join the cause on Facebook.  If you live in the US, you can also check this map to see your state or city’s laws regarding smoking in restaurants, bars and workplaces.

A heart attack is unmistakable, right?  Not exactly.  And especially not if you’re a woman.

We kicked off February by recognizing National Wear Red Day and sharing a hilarious video created by actress Elizabeth Banks for American Heart Month.  In the short piece, a harried working mother begins having strange symptoms one morning, including tightness of the jaw, dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath, muscle pain and pressure on her chest.  Despite all of this, she remains more concerned about getting her husband and kids off to work and school, respectively.  Her son is the only one to recognize what’s going on, saying “Mom!  I think you’re having a heart attack.”

Part of 2012 Heart Month message is that the warning signs of a heart attack for women can be different than for men.  Unlike the stereotypical image of a man clutching his chest and falling down, heart attacks may appear less dramatic in women.  For example, a woman can experience a heart attack without severe chest pressure (“an elephant sitting on my chest”).  Also, women are somewhat more likely than men to report more subtle symptoms such as back or jaw pain, shortness of breath and nausea/vomiting.  The danger is that even when the signs are subtle, the consequences can be deadly.

Would you be shocked to have a heart attack?  That’s what many women report – that they never thought it could happen to them.  As a result, they assume their discomfort must be something more routine like the flu, acid reflux or normal aging.  They also may downplay it in order to put their family’s needs first.  Don’t make this mistake.  A heart attack strikes someone every 34 seconds, and heart disease is the number one killer of women.  So if you think you or someone you love might be having a heart attack – even if the symptoms are subtle – don’t wait more than five minutes before calling 911.

Beyond knowing the warning signs, a little prevention (such as quitting smoking or walking just 30 minutes a day) goes a long way.  Learn your heart attack risk – as well as how you can lower it – with the American Heart Association’s Risk Calculator.

Chronic coughing and wheezing.  Frequent shortness of breath.  Struggling for air.  These are some of the symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which affects 24 million Americans (or approximately one in five adults over the age of 45).  As many as half of them don’t realize they have COPD, however, as many people mistake their slowly worsening symptoms as normal aging or a lack of fitness.

November is National COPD Awareness Month, and the COPD Learn More Breathe Better® campaign, sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, aims to raise awareness about this under-diagnosed condition.  With a growing prevalence in the US, COPD – which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis – is now the third leading cause of death in the US as well as a significant cause of long-term disability.

While COPD can have environmental or genetic risk factors that lead to its development in non-smokers, the disease most often occurs in people age 40 and over with a history of smoking (either current or former smokers).  Smoking is the most common cause of COPD, accounting for as many as 9 out of 10 COPD-related deaths.  Thus, quitting smoking now can reduce your risk.  (Worried about your ability to quit?  Read our recent Great American Smokeout blog for motivation, resources and support.)

If you’ve been diagnosed with COPD, connecting with other patients like you can help you learn how to live better with the condition.  331 patients report COPD at PatientsLikeMe, with 44 listing it as their primary condition.  Some of the common treatments they report include Budesonide, Fluticasone, Prednisone and Oxygen Therapy.  (Click on each name to see the treatment evaluations submitted by our patients, who share their experiences with effectiveness, side effects, cost and more.)

Not sure if your breathing problems might be COPD?  See your doctor for a simple breathing test known as spirometry.  The earlier you get diagnosed and treated, the sooner you can begin to breathe a little easier.

CAMBRIDGE, MA–(Marketwire – April 13, 2011) – According to a new PatientsLikeMe® Poll, almost one in three (29%) patients have withheld certain health information from their doctor. Of the 4,364 poll respondents, all of whom are members of PatientsLikeMe’s online health data-sharing community (www.patientslikeme.com), nearly half (47%) indicate that they have chosen not to share certain health information with an employer, while 14% have withheld information from insurance companies.

“Here’s a population of arguably the most open patients, who share detailed data about everything from their treatments to their sex lives on PatientsLikeMe, and yet some of these individuals feel uncomfortable sharing with other stakeholders in healthcare,” says Jamie Heywood, co-founder and chairman of PatientsLikeMe. ”If we’re all going to make healthcare better, then it’s time we really understand what’s keeping patients from sharing information. That insight is crucial to improving the system.”

In their poll responses, patients also identified some of the reasons why they chose not to share their health information. Patients’ unwillingness to share certain information with doctors is driven by more emotional triggers. Almost half (44%) say they didn’t tell a doctor about something related to their health because they “didn’t want to be lectured/made to feel bad;” second to that was fear of embarrassment (36%). What aren’t they sharing with doctors? Respondents said symptoms (41%), lifestyle information such as “diet, alcohol, exercise, or smoking” (39%) and failure to take a prescribed medication (29%).

Alternatively, the majority of patients who withheld information from an employer cite more practical implications. Sixty six percent (66%) of patients indicate the top reason as being “none of their employer’s business,” but nearly half (49%) say they are afraid of losing their job and about one-third (35%) are afraid of not getting a promotion. Finally, the individuals who kept certain health information under wraps from their health insurance companies report they did so out of fear of losing coverage (39%), fear of not having a specific treatment or procedure covered (39%) or fear of premiums going up (25%).

The complete PatientsLikeMe® Poll results can be downloaded here.

NOTE TO EDITOR: All poll results must be sourced as originating from PatientsLikeMe®.

Poll Methodology
Between March 22nd and March 29th, PatientsLikeMe invited all members who had been active on the website within the past 90 days to participate in the PatientsLikeMe® Poll; 4,364 members completed the survey. Mean age of respondents was 49 years (SD 12, range 13-84).

About PatientsLikeMe
PatientsLikeMe^® (www.patientslikeme.com) is the world’s leading online health data sharing platform. PatientsLikeMe^® creates new knowledge by charting the real-world course of disease through the shared experiences of patients. While patients interact to help improve their outcomes, the data they provide helps researchers learn how these diseases act in the real world and accelerate the discovery of new, more effective treatments. [Follow company news on Twitter.com/PatientsLikeMe and http://blog.patientslikeme.com]