Italy's smoking ban cuts local heart attack rates
New research from Italy provides additional evidence that banning smoking in public places may help prevent heart attacks, at least over the short term.
Since smokefree legislation took effect in Italy in 2005, hospital admissions for heart attack in the Piedmont region fell 11 percent among people under 60 years old, according to the report by Dr. Francesco Barone-Adesi and colleagues at the University of Turin.
"Our findings suggest that smoking regulations may have important short-term effects on health," they conclude. "The long-term effects of the Italian ban on respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and cancer will have to be evaluated in the years to come."
SOURCE: European Heart Journal, October 2006
Since smokefree legislation took effect in Italy in 2005, hospital admissions for heart attack in the Piedmont region fell 11 percent among people under 60 years old, according to the report by Dr. Francesco Barone-Adesi and colleagues at the University of Turin.
"Our findings suggest that smoking regulations may have important short-term effects on health," they conclude. "The long-term effects of the Italian ban on respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and cancer will have to be evaluated in the years to come."
SOURCE: European Heart Journal, October 2006
