Anti-smoking rules now allow four out of five Americans to enjoy clean air in most public places. The icing on the cake showed a reduced chance of heart attack for non-smokers.

It looks like a cigarette, feels like a cigarette, but doesn't have the tobacco content or familiar smell of regular cigarettes. Rather, these electronic cigarettes come in a variety of flavors that emit water vapor as they simulate the effect of smoking.

Moms-to-be who are both overweight and smokers are more than twice as likely to have a baby with a congenital heart defect than women who are either overweight or a smoker but not both.

We've known for decades that smoking during pregnancy is potentially damaging for the baby, and has been linked to various birth defects, premature birth, underdeveloped lungs, low birthweight and many other problems.

Hypertension, diabetes and smoking  are known to increase your chances for stroke. A new study shows they can also be factors in developing cognitive problems later in life, even among patients who have never experienced a stroke.

After a stroke some patients may find it easier to quit smoking. There may be a good reason for that. Smokers who intended to stop prior to the stroke and those who have a particular area of their brain damaged by stroke are more likely to quit.

There has been a steady decline in the number of Americans with coronary heart disease in recent years, yet rates vary by race and ethnicity, and residents of some states have a risk that is more than double other geographic regions.

Smoking doesn't discriminate -- leading to health risks for anyone who picks up the habit. For women, that risk may be exaggerated after a heart attack.

Smokers aren't just at an added risk for strokes. They're at risk at risk for having them up to a decade earlier than those who don't smoke.