Effects of Smoking and Women - Vital Information For Women Who Smoke

Learning the effects of smoking and women could mean the difference between life and death. The more informed you are about what the effects of smoking do to women; the more likely it will help you to make that decision to finally quit smoking.

According to the US Surgeon General, the effects of smoking and women have become a full blown epidemic. More than 1 in 6 American women over the age of 18 smoke and on average, women die 14.5 years earlier because of their smoking. Of these women that smoke, 19% are ages 18 to 24 and 20% are 25 to 44 which means this alarming trend will risk the future health of these young women.

How does smoking affect your health?

It raises your risk of heart disease.

Heart disease is the leading killer among women and the risk goes up with the amount of cigarettes smoked along with the length of time a woman has been smoking. Cigarette smoke can harm the heart and a smoker who has a heart attack is more likely to die within an hour of the heart attack than a non-smoker.

Smoking damages your lungs.

Smoking causes more than 75% of deaths due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The effects of smoking and women who are 35 or older are almost 13 times more probable to die from COPD. If you smoke 'low tar' or 'light' cigarettes, this does not lessen these risks.

Smoking affects your reproductive health.

Women who smoke are more than likely to have difficulty getting pregnant. It affects menopause in that smokers start this process younger and are more than likely to have unpleasant symptoms while going through menopause.

Quitting can help diminish the threat of many of the health effects listed above. Even after 1 to 2 years after quitting the risk of heart disease is greatly reduced. It is never too late to quit!

Personally, I have been battling this habit for 36 years. I have just quit for the third and FINAL time! I had the same fears as everyone else and thought I would gain weight, be more stressed and miss that 'after dinner' cigarette. It is possible to quit without these side effects. If you are ready to quit, good for you! Learn more startling facts, and how I was able to finally quit by clicking here and find out more about the effects of smoking and women.