For cancer of the larynx and esophagus, evidence that smoking increases the risk among women is more limited but consistent with large increases in risk. Women who smoke may have a higher risk for liver cancer and colorectal cancer than women who do not smoke. Smoking is consistently associated with an increased risk for cervical cancer. More research is needed. Return to Top Cardiovascular Disease Smoking is a major cause of coronary heart disease among women.
Risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked and the duration of smoking.
Women who smoke have an increased risk for peripheral vascular atherosclerosis. Smoking cessation reduces the excess risk of coronary heart disease, no matter at what age women stop smoking. The risk is substantially reduced within 1 or 2 years after they stop smoking. The increased risk for stroke associated with smoking begins to reverse after women stop smoking. About 10 to 15 years after stopping, the risk for stroke approaches that of a women who never smoked.