French researchers announced a striking 15% decrease in admissions of patients with myocardial infarction to emergency wards since the public ban on smoking came into effect in restaurants, hotels and casinos in France last January.

Recent research on the dangers of secondhand smoke could help clear the air about the value of no-smoking laws governing bars and eateries.

With the growing number of smoking bans in restaurants and bars driving smokers outside, researchers in Athens, Georgia, are hoping to find out whether secondhand smoke from smokers clustered outside these establishments is posing a health hazard of its own.

Children of smokers who don't show any signs of respiratory problems may still be experiencing damaging changes in their airways that could lead to lung disease later in life, according to a new study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference, on Sunday, May 20.

Bans on smoking at home may have greater influence on health status than those at work, according to a first-study-of-its kind study published in the May/June 2007 issue of The Journal of Urban Health (JUH) , a bi-monthly publication of The New York Academy of Medicine.

Tens of thousands of Americans die each year from secondhand tobacco smoke, according to a 2006 report by the U.S. Surgeon General. While the health risks associated with indoor secondhand smoke are well documented, little research has been done on exposure to toxic tobacco fumes outdoors.