A new study posted April 5th on the British Medical Journal website (www.bmj.com) shows that the health benefits of a comprehensive smokefree workplace law may be much more immediate than previously thought, resulting in a decline of 40 per cent in the number of heart attacks.

The study, authored by Richard P. Sargent, MD, Robert M. Shepard, MD, and Stanton A. Glantz, PhD, looked at the number of hospital admissions in Helena, Montana for acute myocardial infarctions (AMI) during a sixth month period; compared those numbers to the same time period in the previous four years, and looked at figures for the surrounding area not affected by the smokefree law. The doctors found a 40 per cent drop in admissions for heart attacks from people living or working in Helena -- where a smokefree ordinance was in effect -- and no change for people living further away.

According to Dr. Glantz, "This is not the first study to find a link between long term exposure to secondhand smoke and heart attacks. There is a mountain of evidence that this connection exists. It is, however, the first study to show the rapid community level benefits of a smokefree policy. This study shows that a comprehensive indoor smokefree law reduces heart attacks immediately."

One year after Dr. Sargent presented the Helena Heart Study findings at the Annual Scientific Sessions of the American College of Cardiology in Chicago in April 2003, the British Medical Journal, one of the most prominent peer-reviewed medical journals in the world, is publishing the dramatic results.

The journal article points out that even 30 minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke increases blood platelet "stickiness," which can lead to blood clots. In addition, arteries narrow after exposure to secondhand smoke, so smaller clots cause more damage, and there is an increase in heart rhythm problems associated with heart attacks.

According to Cynthia Hallett, executive director of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, "The bottom line is simple. Secondhand smoke kills. This study validates that there are important and immediate community-level health benefits to smokefree workplace policies. All nonsmokers deserve to breathe smokefree air in enclosed workplaces and public places."

Communities across the U.S. have taken steps to protect nonsmokers from the disease and death caused by secondhand smoke. Cities as diverse as Pueblo, CO, Boston, MA, Tempe, AZ, New York City, and El Paso, TX have enacted laws that bring smokefree air to enclosed workplaces and public places.

"Smokefree indoor air is a mainstream idea whose time has come," said Hallett. "As the public has learned more about the health dangers associated with secondhand smoke, people have supported smokefree polices as a way to address this easily preventable cause of premature death and chronic disease."

This study is further evidence that smokefree ordinances benefit everyone in a community, including residents and workers, who as a result of these policies are less exposed to a the toxic chemicals in secondhand smoke, reducing their risk of disease and death from secondhand smoke exposure.