Smoking bans = fewer heart attacks?
That's the conclusion of a study reported today in the Boston Globe. Massachusetts communities began banning smoking in most workplaces in the early 2000s; the legislature enacted a statewide ban in 2004.
The report doesn't appear to claim a causal connection -- although its authors do -- but it both documents a strong correlation, based not only on numbers but also related to the times at which the various bans took effect. And it explains how cigarette smoke can cause heart problems more quickly than it can cause its more familiar consequences for the respiratory system. The number of Massachusetts residents who died of heart attacks decreased by almost 600 per year, or about 30 percent, after the bans took effect.
Commenters as of a little before 11 a.m. today have been overwhelmingly critical, but other than pointing out the difference between correlation and causation, none has offered a scientific basis for challenging the findings.
