### Bad News -- Smoking Bans Reduce Heart Attacks! ###

[� Reality Check� �]

Smoking bans cut heart attacks by a third: study

Tue Sep 22, 2009 5:20am EDT
By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Smoking bans in public places can reduce the number of
heart attacks by as much as 36 percent, offering fresh proof that the
restrictions work, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

They urged widespread bans on smoking in enclosed public places to prevent
heart attacks and improve public health.

"This study adds to the already strong evidence that secondhand smoke causes
heart attacks, and that passing 100 percent smoke-free laws in all
workplaces and public places is something we can do to protect the public,"
James Lightwood of the University of California-San Francisco, whose study
appears in the journal Circulation, said in a statement.

The team pooled data from 13 studies of smoking bans in communities in the
United States, Canada and Europe.
They said heart attack rates fall immediately after smoking bans are put in
place, dropping by 17 percent in the first year and by as much as 36 percent
after three years.

Lightwood said in a telephone interview that prior studies have been
inconsistent in their findings, but their analysis found that smoking bans
had a compelling effect.

"A well-designed smoking restriction law can significantly reduce heart
attacks in the community and has a beneficial impact on public health," he
said.

Dr. David Goff of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North
Carolina said the findings suggest smoke-free laws could lower health costs.

"At a time of great concern over the financial sustainability of our
healthcare system, smoke-free laws represent an inexpensive approach to
reducing heart attacks, and, probably, other cardiovascular conditions,"
Goff said in a statement.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, long-term
exposure to secondhand smoke can raise heart disease rates in adult
nonsmokers by 25 percent to 30 percent.

Secondhand smoke kills an estimated 46,000 Americans every year from heart
disease alone, the CDC and Heart Association say. Smoking also causes
several types of cancer, stroke and emphysema or chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease.