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Mayo: Heart Attack Numbers Drop Since Smoking Ban

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Mayo Clinic said there is more evidence that smoking bans in Minnesota are keeping more people alive.

Researchers found that the number of heart attacks and sudden deaths has fallen by nearly half since the smoking ban took effect in Olmsted County.

"This study adds to the observation that smoke-free workplace laws help reduce the chances of having a heart attack, but for the first time we report these laws also reduce the chances of sudden cardiac death," said Richard Hurt, M.D., director of Mayo Clinic's Nicotine Dependence Center in a press release. "The study shows that everyone, especially people with known coronary artery disease, should avoid contact with secondhand smoke. They should have no -- literally no -- exposure to secondhand smoke because it is too dangerous to their health."

But, they said the rates of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity stayed the same or increased.

In 2002, Olmsted County was the first county in Minnesota to pass a smoking ban. Since then, adult smoking rates have dropped 23 percent.

Read more about the study here.

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