Studies have shown that when towns ban smoking in a public places, the number of heart attacks drops significantly. Now researchers pinpoints that it’s non-smokers who benefit first. In a couple of months after one city is outlawed smoking in restaurants, workplaces, and stores, hospital admissions for heart attacks fell a whopping 70% – but only among non-smokers. Admission stayed the same for smokers. A halt on lighting up in public helps non-smokers most quickly because within 30minutes of exposure to second hand smoke, blood becomes stickier and more prone to clotting. Plus, the level of carbon monoxide also rises, so heart cells get less oxygen. If you’re smoker who’d like to kick the habit, look for a program with in-depth counselling. That, plus a supply of nicotine-replacement patches, gum or lozenges, almost doubles smokers’ quit rates versus only brief counselling with nicotine replacements.