One of the critical risk factors involved in heart disease is tobacco usage, specifically smoking cigarettes.
Women have some natural protective systems which help prevent many diseases associated with smoking.
Cigarette smoking breaks down these natural protections, putting women on not just an equal footing with men, but actually accelerating the risk. The facts are scary and although the purpose here isn't to scare you, it is important to understand the risks women face because of smoking. Women are 3 times more likely to get lung cancer from smoking than men. Among women, lung cancer now causes more deaths than breast cancer. Pregnant women who smoke have higher rates of miscarriages, stillbirths and premature births than nonsmokers.