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The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released new research today that said smoking bans are saving countless lives in the U.S. every year.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ordered the independent Institute of Medicine to examine research on smoking bans and secondhand smoke since a lot of research indicated that banning smoking could significantly cut down on heart attacks. Smoking bans policies have been shown to lower the danger of heart attack by up to 47 percent and drastically reduce the odds of other heart problems.

“We conclude there is a causal relationship between smoking bans and decreases in acute coronary events,” Lynn R. Goldman, MD, MPH, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, said during a briefing. “The data showed remarkable consistency and showed decreases in the rate for acute MI’s after implementation of smoking bans.”

There are more than 126 million nonsmoking people in the U.S. who are regularly exposed to others cigarette smoke. The surgeon general in 2006 cited “overwhelming scientific evidence” that tens of thousands die each year as a result, from heart disease, lung cancer and a list of other illnesses.

A 2006 study conducted by the U.S. Surgeon General’s office, THE HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF INVOLUNTARY EXPOSURE TO TOBACCO SMOKE, stated that exposure to secondhand smoke causes heart disease and indicated that smoking ban policies are the most economical and effective way to reduce exposure.