Three years back, smoking was banned in one city of Colorado and now after three years a considerable decrease in heart attacks hospitalizations has been found there, which indicates how injurious smoking is to health. This Govt. study was the longest running of its kind and it showed that there was 41% decrease in heart attack hospitalization cases within three years after workplace smoking ban in Pueblo, Colo city. The researchers didn’t notice any such drop in two adjacent areas which indicates that it was mainly due to smoking ban.

“The study indicates that one terrible and less-recognized cause of heart problems related deaths is secondhand smoke,” says Terry Pechacek, the lead author of the study.

The results of almost eight previous studies have shown that smoking bans helped to decrease the rates of heart problem related deaths. However, none of these studies was run for three years.

Dr. Michael Thun, who is a researcher at American Cancer Society, says about the study that it’s quite dramatic.

“It was the ninth study which indicates that smoke-free laws can prove quite effective to decrease heart attacks,” Thun added.

Smoking bans are intended to drop smoking rates as well as to decrease secondhand tobacco smoke exposure.  Secondhand smoking is considered a well-recognized cause of lung cancer, but it has been noticed that its effects on heart problems are more immediate.