Study suggests smoking bans decrease heart attacks
A recent study by doctors in Helena, Mont., suggests that indoor smoking bans decrease the rate of heart attacks among residents in a community. According to The Associated Press, the doctors presented those findings Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Chicago. Helena’s smoking ban was in effect from June to December 2002. In that time, the doctors found that hospital admissions for heart attacks dropped from seven a month to about three, and they returned to normal levels after the city stopped enforcing the ban. The doctors admit that they are proponents of indoor smoking bans and suggest that the study’s scale should be increased to a community larger than Helena, which has 26,000 residents. For more information, visit http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/04/02/smoke.free.hearts.ap/index.html.