A decline in heart attacks in one Minnesota county appears to be linked to smoke-free workplace laws, according to a new report in Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.
According to a release from the journal, which published the study online, exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with coronary heart disease in non-smokers, and research suggests that the cardiovascular effects of secondhand smoke are nearly as large as those with active smoking.
Richard D. Hurt, a Mayo Clinic physician, and his Mayo colleagues in Rochester, Minnesota, evaluated the incidence of heart attack and sudden cardiac death in Olmsted County, Minnesota, during the 18-month period before and after implementation of smoke-free ordinances.
In 2002, a smoke-free restaurant ordinance was implemented in the county and, in 2007, all workplaces, including bars, became smoke free.
"We report a substantial decline in the incidence of [heart attacks] from 18 months before the smoke-free restaurant law was implemented to 18 months after the comprehensive smoke-free workplace law was implemented five years later," the authors comment, according to the journal's release.
