Heart disease is often thought of as a man's disease, but that is a mistake. One in ten American women 45 to 64 years of age has some form of heart disease, and this increases to one in five women over 65. Heart disease is the number one killer of American women. The good news is that many of the risk factors for coronary heart disease are controllable. If you smoke, you are two to six times more likely to suffer a heart attack than a nonsmoking woman, and the risk increases with the number of cigarettes you smoke each day.
Smoking also boosts the risk of stroke.
There is simply no safe way to smoke. The only safe and healthful course is not to smoke at all. There is nothing easy about giving up cigarettes. But as hard as quitting may be, the results are well worth it. In the first year after stopping smoking, the risk of coronary heart disease drops sharply.