Evidence Shows Heart Attack Rate Decreases with Smoking Bans

(Washington, October 15, 2009) – The American Heart Association supports a new national study which found that smoking bans are effective at reducing the risk of acute cardiac events such as heart attacks associated with exposure to secondhand smoke. 

 “This report makes it increasingly clear that smoke-free policies are having a positive impact in reducing the heart attack rate in many communities,” said Clyde Yancy, M.D., American Heart Association President. “There’s no question that secondhand smoke has an adverse health impact in workplaces and public environments. We must continue to enact comprehensive smoke-free laws across the country to save lives and reduce the number of new smokers.” 

The Institute of Medicine report, “Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Cardiovascular Effects: Making Sense of the Evidence,” sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suggests the strength of association between secondhand smoke and acute coronary events is compelling and provides evidence showing a cause-and-effect relationship between secondhand smoke exposure and heart problems.

The findings also confirm data from the 2006 U.S. Surgeon General report on the consequences of involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke that stated there “is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.” Nearly 440,000 Americans die each year of smoking-related illnesses and about 38,000 of these deaths are from second-hand smoke. About 35 percent of those deaths are related to cardiovascular disease.

“More Americans are trying to limit their exposure to secondhand smoke to improve their health and reduce the burden of healthcare costs related to tobacco use,” said Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association. “Smoke-free policies will make a huge dent in the $10 billion spent annually on healthcare costs associated with exposure to secondhand smoke.” Currently, 70 percent of the nation has smoke-free laws for workplaces, restaurants or bars.

The American Heart Association supports strong public health measures that will reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke across the United States. These policy priorities include federal regulation of the tobacco industry, adequate funding for tobacco cessation and prevention programs, comprehensive smoke free air laws and taxation of tobacco products. The association believes that smoke free laws should be comprehensive and apply to all workplaces and public environments and there should be no preemption of local ordinances, and no exemptions for hardship, opting out, or ventilation. Visit www.americanheart.org.
 

 
For more information on the report, please visit www.iom.edu.

 

To watch video clips on secondhand smoke by AHA CEO Nancy Brown, please visit the following based on issue area: Secondhand smoke, Legislation, Funding programs and Workplace laws 

To listen to audio clips by Dr. David Goff, AHA spokesperson, discuss smokefree-related information, please go to the following: Risks of Secondhand Smoke, Comments on the IOM report part 1 | part 2 and Smokefree Regulations
 

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Contact: Suzanne Ffolkes

                Director of Media Advocacy
                 (202) 785-7929