Smoking Ban Cut Heart Attacks By One-Third

A meta-analysis found banning smoking in public places can reduce heart attack hospitalizations by up to 36 percent over time, U.S. researchers say.

James Lightwood of the University of California in San Francisco and Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the university's School of Medicine, pooled 13 studies from North America, Italy, Scotland and Ireland.

Despite their geographical range, the researchers found a consistent reduced risk of hospitalization for heart attack of 17 percent one year after smoking bans were implemented. However, this benefit "grows with time," reaching a gain of about 36 percent in three years.

Joep Perk, spokesman for the European Society of Cardiology, said the study is important.

"First, what the analysis shows is that the harmful effect of second-hand smoke is much greater than we first imagined," Perk said in a statement.

"It also shows that the benefits derived from the anti-smoking legislation continue over time in a linear direction."

The findings were published in the journal Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association.