The Surgeon General has called cigarette smoking “the leading preventable cause of disease and deaths in the United States.” Smokers have a higher risk of developing many chronic disorders, including lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. Smoking increases blood pressure, decreases your ability to tolerate exercise, and leads to atherosclerosis – fatty buildup in the arteries – which causes heart attack and stroke. And the news is especially bad for women. Female smokers are 50% more likely to have a heart attack than men who smoke, and smoking increases the risk of dying from a heart attack within the first hour. Women who smoke and use oral contraceptives greatly increase their risk of coronary heart disease and stroke compared with nonsmoking women also on the pill.

“You’ve come a long way, baby.” Remember that tagline from a cigarette marketed exclusively for women? It launched in the late 1960’s just as the feminist movement hit. The Virginia Slims ads featured attractive, stylish women with a cigarette in hand and portrayed that cigarette as a symbol of independence and success in a man’s world. Well, we have come a long way. Since 1980, nearly three million U.S. women have died prematurely from smoking. Smoking used to be much more prevalent among men. But women now account for 39 percent of all smoking-related deaths each year in the U.S. And the rates are still rising among teenaged girls. In fact, 30 percent of girls who are seniors in high school are still smokers – and this generation knows the dangers. So why do women still smoke?

• Nearly all women who smoke started as teenagers
• Nicotine, which is highly addictive for everyone, is even more addictive for women
• The tobacco industry continues to create marketing specifically targeted at women
• Our thin-obsessed society feeds the notion that if you smoke, you’ll be skinnier and if you quit, you’ll gain weight

What about secondhand smoke?

You don’t have to be a smoker to feel the negative effects of smoking on your health. The link between secondhand (or passive) smoke and lung cancer is well documented. There is also a clear connection between secondhand smoke and cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association estimates that approximately 35,000 people die each year from heart disease caused by other people’s smoke. Non-smokers living with smokers are also more likely to suffer a stroke.

Quitting

The good news is that quitting smoking has an immediate and long-term health benefit. Quit now and you can actually cut your risk of coronary heart disease substantially.

• A smoker’s excess risk of heart attack reduces rapidly after only one year of not smoking
• Within two to six years, the risk of developing coronary heart disease can return to a similar level as that of a non-smoker
• The increased risk for stroke associated with smoking is reversible after quitting smoking.

The younger you are when you quit, the better. A woman who quits smoking before age 35 can almost completely eliminate her risk of death due to smoking. Women who quit at 35 can live almost eight years longer than women who continue smoking. And older women can see the benefits from quitting too. A 65 year old woman who quits smoking increases her life expectancy by almost four years compared with women who continue to smoke.

There are so many resources available to help you quit smoking. Remember, it is the number one thing you can do right now to help live a longer, healthier life.