Smoking ban reduces number of heart attacks, claims new study

New research shows that smoking bans have reduced the destructive effects of smoking on public health.

A meta-analysis of 31 different studies looking at second hand smoke found that bans reduced people's exposure to the negative effects of passive smoking. Eight of the studies suggested that the bans have also caused a drop in the number of people smoking, though the direct effect of the smoking ban on smokers is less clear according to the British Medical Group.

Still, the meta-analysis has provided a clear picture of a public environment and a standard of public health that has been improved since smoking in enclosed public places was banned. The research, conducted in Ireland and published in The Cochrane Library in the UK, has shown a significant drop in the number of people reporting respiratory problems such as coughing or breathlessness.

The biggest effect though has been on heart disease. In all of the studies that measured it, the number of hospital admissions for heart attacks has fallen after a ban on public smoking was introduced. Other information discovered by the researchers indicated that even though people are now restricted when smoking in public, smoke exposure at home doesn't appear to have increased.

Although the immediate dangers of smoking are to the individual, it's important to remember that it can effect others too. The very young and the elderly are particular at risk from second-hand smoke and one of the biggest benefits of the smoking ban has been to limit this exposure.

Many people who have been trying to quit for years also say that it has helped them to stop smoking. Hypnotherapy, NLP training and other methods are all complementary ways of reducing tobacco intake and the negative effect personal habits can have on others.