Smoking Bans Reduce Risk of Heart Attacks by Lowering Exposure to Secondhand Smoke

People who live in communities that ban smoking in public places--such as bars, restaurants, and government buildings--have fewer heart attacks, according to two new research studies recently reported by the National Institutes of Health.
In the communities researchers studied, the rate of heart attacks fell dramatically within one year after the smoking ban was put in place (17 percent in one study and 25 percent in the other), and dropped about 36 percent after three years, leading one researcher to estimate that a nationwide ban on smoking in public places in the United States would result in more than 154,000 fewer heart attacks annually.

Researchers also predicted that smoking bans eventually would reduce the incidence of stroke, emphysema, lung cancer, and various respiratory disorders. (My colleague Robert Longley provides more details about this story at About.com: US Government Info.)
While some of the decrease in heart attacks may be due to people who have quit smoking because of the bans, most of the health improvements are the direct result of people breathing less secondhand smoke.
According to the researchers, exposure to secondhand smoke increases the risk for heart attacks by 30 percent while smoking doubles the danger, so smoking bans that eliminate secondhand smoke in public places can make a significant contribution to public health. (One important factor the researchers didn't attempt to trace is the long-term health benefits to children, who are even more vulnerable than adults to the effects of secondhand smoke.)
The negative health effects of secondhand smoke were debated long after the hazards of smoking had been confirmed and plastered on every package of cigarettes sold in the United States, but in 2006 the U.S. Surgeon General issued a strong warning about the dangers of secondhand smoke.
"The health effects of secondhand smoke exposure are more pervasive than we previously thought," said then-U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, who noted that even brief exposure to secondhand smoke could have immediate and serious consequences. "The scientific evidence is now indisputable: secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance. It is a serious health hazard that can lead to disease and premature death in children and nonsmoking adults."