Smoking poses higher heart risk for women
19 August 2011
A landmark study confirming that smoking increases the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) more in women than it does in men underlines the need for tobacco awareness at a very young age, experts say (Lancet 2011; online 11 Aug).
Pre-teen girls should be targeted with anti-smoking advice, which can now include the warning that women are more susceptible to the effects of tobacco on heart disease than men, Australian doctors said in the wake of the analysis encompassing data on 2.4 million people.
The systematic review of studies spanning 35 years was conducted by the George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, and the University of Minnesota. The review found that "compared with non-smokers, women who smoke have a 25 per cent greater relative risk of coronary heart disease than do male smokers". This was after allowing for other cardiovascular (heart and stroke) risk factors.
This difference in risk might even be an underestimate, with more women under-reporting their smoking habit compared with men.
The study also showed that the extra risk in women compared with men increased by 2 per cent for every additional year of study follow-up, lending support to a physiological basis for the sex difference, researchers said.
However, the mechanism underlying the sex difference remained unclear and may be biological or related to differences in smoking behaviour, they said.
The increased risk in females was striking given that women tended to be lighter smokers, in Australia smoking 16 cigarettes per day compared with 18 for men, the authors said.
In an editorial, US tobacco prevention experts said the study results were worrisome given that "the tobacco industry views women as its growth market".
Last Reviewed: 19 August 2011
- 1. Huxley RR, Woodward M. Cigarette smoking as a risk factor for coronary heart disease in women compared with men: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Lancet 2011 Aug 10. [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60781-2. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2811%2960781-2 (accessed Aug 2011).
2. Steligaa MA, Dreslerb CM. Smoking cessation: crucial to target women as well as men. Lancet 2011 Aug 10. [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61035-0. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2811%2961035-0 (accessed Aug 2011).
