Public bans on smoking improve the overall health of people, a new study carried out in Scotland and published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed.

The interesting thing is that researchers looked for signs that the person was a smoker, a non-smoker and started their research from there.

Researchers found that after a ban smoking in enclosed public place was introduced in Scotland in March 2006, there was a 17 percent reduction in hospital admissions for acute coronary syndrome. There was a 14 percent reduction in admissions among smokers, a 19 percent reduction among former smokers, and a 21 percent reduction among people who’d never smoked, the US News and World Report noted.

Nonsmokers saw a 20% reduction in their hospital admissions.

Previous studies showed that banning smoking in public places reduced hospital admissions, but they didn’t take into considerations cathegories such as nonsmokers, smokers, or both.  

It looks like the home is now the most likely place to breathe second-hands smoke. Another study showed that the risk people who had never smoked but lived with a smoker to have a stroke raised by 42 %. If the person smoked at some point of his/her life but given up, the risk to have a stroke raised at 72 %.

A similar study made in Rome after a ban smoking in enclosed public places was introduced in Italy showed that the number of acute coronary events dropped significantly among adults in Rome.