Women smokers are also at major risk for cancer of the cervix, mouth, throat, esophagus, kidney, pancreas and bladder. The American Lung Association notes that female smokers 35 and older are more than 10 times as likely to die from emphysema or chronic bronchitis than non-smoking women. In addition, women's death rates from smoking related lung diseases are fast approaching male smoking rates. Women are a high risk for developing Coronary Heart Disease. One out of every three women aged 40 and under will develop CHD, according to researchers at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in the Framingham Heart Study .
Heart attack is the leading cause of death among American women.
The American Heart Association says that about 19,990 women under age 65 die of heart attack each year . They also note that smokers' risk of heart attack is more than twice that of nonsmokers. Tragically, pregnant smokers have higher rates of miscarriage, stillbirths and babies who are born too soon. More babies die sooner after birth from crib death than newborns of nonsmoking mothers, according to the American Lung Association. William's Obstetrics, a respected OB text, quotes study after study of the negative effects of smoking on pregnancy.