Smoking contributes to the bone-thinning disorder osteoporosis by depleting bones of minerals, especially calcium, and by decreasing the amount of estrogen in the body. The bone mineral content of women smokers averages 15 to 30 percent less than that of nonsmokers. Furthermore, women smokers are more likely to have unsuccessful treatment for infertility. Smoking leads to earlier menopause, with female smokers reaching menopause an average of 1.74 years before nonsmokers. Compared with people who've never smoked, current smokers of 20 or more cigarettes a day are at least twice as likely to develop any type of cataract and three times as likely to develop the especially visually disabling form called posterior subcapsular cataract.
Smoking appears to increase the risk for developing diabetes.
A recent study found that male smokers aged 40 to 75 were twice as likely as similarly aged nonsmokers to develop non insulin-dependent diabetes. The risk of Crohn's disease increases with the number of packs smoked per day. In one study, women who were current smokers had a fivefold increased risk of developing the disease. She contributes regularly to Priorities and other ACSH publications.