The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7495 p356
29 March 2008

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Smoking ban cuts heart attacks

Banning smoking in public places in Italy preceded an immediate reduction in acute coronary events, such as heart attacks.

Researchers identified acute coronary events in Rome from hospital discharge reports and from regional registers of causes of deaths for five years preceding the smoking ban and compared them with those occurring one year after the ban. They found an 11.2 per cent reduction in acute coronary events in persons aged from 35 to 64 years and a 7.9 per cent reduction in those from 65 to 74 years (Circulation 2008;117:1183).