Woman smokers risk heart attack

The study found that women who smoke have heart attacks nearly 14 years earlier than women who don't smoke - age 81 vs. age 66. Men who smoke have heart attacks about eight years earlier than male non-smokers - age 72 vs. age 64, the Associated Press reported.

Smoking may cause women to go through menopause earlier, leaving them less protected against a heart attack, suggested Dr Morten Grundtvig and colleagues from the Innlandet Hospital Trust in Lillehammer.

The study was presented to the European Society of Cardiology.

"This is not a minor difference," said Dr Silvia Priori, a cardiologist at the Scientific Institute in Pavia, Italy. "Women need to realise they are losing much more than men when they smoke," said Priori, who was not involved in the study. – (HealthDay News)

Read more:
Smoking and heart disease
Heading for a heart attack?

September 2008