Does Smoking Affect Women Differently?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 1 billion smokers worldwide and 200 million of them are women. Almost 1.5 million people die from tobacco each year, an alarming figure that illustrates the harmful effects of smoking on women.

According to Doctor Bornali Dutta, smoking affects women differently than men on several levels. Indeed, if we know that cigarettes increase the risk of various types of cancer in smokers, smoking exposes women to a higher risk of cervical cancer.

Smoking also affects fertility and menstruation, especially premenstrual symptoms which may become more severe. Cigarettes harm the fetus during pregnancy since the carbon monoxide present damages the fetal tissue and nicotine accelerates the infant's heart rate. Smoking increases the risk of miscarriages and exposes to other complications such as detachment of the placenta or premature births.

Smokers can experience early menopause because nicotine interferes with the blood supply to the ovary, thereby decreasing its production function of the hormone estrogen. Cigarettes also accelerate aging of the skin and decreases bone mineral density in women which inevitably exposes them to osteoporosis.

Smokers are more likely than smokers to develop Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Likewise, their immune system is greatly weakened.

As with men, smoking increases the risk of heart disease in women, especially heart attacks.

It would seem, however, thatin France, women smoke less and less. Recent figures published by Public health France show a "slump" general smoking among women. In France, tobacco is still responsible for one in eight deaths.

Hypnosis to quit smoking

Video by Louise Lethiec