Tobacco in All Forms Hurts the Heart

Smoked or chewed, firsthand or secondhand, all kinds of tobacco cause heart attacks, a huge international study finds.

The findings come from data on more than 27,000 people in 52 countries. Koon K. Teo, MB, PhD, of the University of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues combed through the data for evidence that tobacco use affects heart attack risk.

And they found it.

"Tobacco use is one of the most important causes of [heart attack] globally, especially in men," Teo and colleagues conclude. "All forms of tobacco use, including different types of smoking and chewing tobacco and inhalation of second-hand smoke, should be discouraged."