A possible link between a deadly form of stroke and smoking has been discovered by scientists.
Researchers in Finland found a sharp drop in the number of people who suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage - the most fatal form of stroke - occurred in the same period as a decline in smoking numbers.
Between 1998 and 2012, the number of people who smoked plunged 30% among 15 to 64-year-olds in the country, the study found.
During this time, cases of the killer stroke also went down by 45% among women under 50 and 38% among men under 50, as well as by 16% among women over 50 and 26% among men over 50.
Scientists said they could not establish whether the change in smoking habits caused the drop, but it was "highly likely" Finnish tobacco policies played a role.
A British charity said the findings were a "wake-up call" to smokers.
In recent years, Finland has slashed smoking numbers through a series of public health campaigns and legislative action against the sale of tobacco and its use in public.
Professor Jaakko Kaprio of the University of Helsinki said of the findings, which were published in the journal Neurology: "It is extraordinary for the incidence of any cardiovascular disease to decrease so rapidly at the population level in such a short time.
"Even though we cannot demonstrate a direct causation in nation-wide studies, it is highly likely that the national tobacco policies in Finland have contributed to the decline in the incidence of this type of severe brain haemorrhage."
Health charity Ash said the findings should motivate smokers in the UK to quit.
Chief executive Deborah Arnott said: "The Finnish study is a wake-up call to smokers.
"They need to know that if they don't quit smoking they're twice as likely to die from stroke than non-smokers.
"But stopping smoking can be tough, which is why it is so important to ensure that all smokers are given the best possible support and encouragement to give up."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here