Women smoke for different reasons. Some women smoke to deal with stress or control weight. Younger women may start smoking as a way of rebelling, being independent, or being accepted among their peers. But, there is never a good reason to smoke and it's best to never start smoking. There are, though, many good reasons to quit smoking. When you quit, your health and quality of life will improve and you will help safeguard the health of those you live with (by not exposing them to second-hand smoke).

How Smoking Affects a Woman's Health

When you smoke, you can become addicted to, or dependent on (not being able to do without), nicotine. Nicotine is as habit-forming as heroin or cocaine. Over time, you may develop problems with your teeth and gums and have staining on your teeth, fingers, fingernails, bad breath, and wrinkling skin. Smoking can cause many health problems in women, some of which are serious and even life threatening. Smoking causes or contributes to:

• Lung cancer and other lung diseases, such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

• Other kinds of cancer, including cancer of the throat, mouth, esophagus (food pipe), pancreas, kidney, bladder, and cervix (opening to the uterus or womb).

• Atherosclerosis - clogged and narrowed arteries.

• Heart disease - the #1 killer of women in the United States, including heart attacks.

• Stroke.

• Early menopause - the stopping of menstrual periods.

• Osteoporosis - the thinning and weakening of bones.

• Infertility - problems getting pregnant.

• Problems during pregnancy like miscarriage, early or premature birth, infants born with low birth weight, and even infant death.

Smokers who breastfeed may pass harmful chemicals from tobacco to their babies through breast milk. Infants of adults who smoke seem more likely to develop conditions like asthma, and suffer an increased rate of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Children and adults who are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke have increased rates of pneumonia, bronchitis, and fluid in the middle ear.

The good news is that you can quit smoking, no matter how old you are or how long you have smoked. Your health will improve and you will live longer as a result of quitting.

Additional information on the consequences of smoking in women and why a woman should quit smoking:

Publications

1.   A Lifetime of Good Health: Your Guide to Staying Healthy - This guide to staying healthy contains information on women's health needs to live long and well throughout the years. Although there are genetic risks that you cannot control for many diseases, there are risks that you can overcome by following the key preventive steps included in the guide.
   
   
2.   Frequently Asked Questions - Smoking - This fact contains information on smoking, its short-term and long-term health effects, and the most effective ways to quit.
   
   
3.   Secondhand Smoke in Your Home - This on-line publication discusses the effects of secondhand smoke at home, the benefits of a smoke-free home, and how to make and keep your home smoke-free.
   
   
4.   Seven Deadly Myths - Hosted by cover model, entrepreneur and smoking cessation advocate Christy Turlington, this 17 minute video explores some of the common myths about smoking and empowers women to become or stay smoke-free.
   
   
5.   Smoking and Your Digestive System - This fact sheet explains the harmful effects of cigarette smoking on the digestive system and explains how the damage can be reversed.
   
   
6.   Surgeon General's Report: Women and Smoking Fact Sheet - Health Consequence of Tobacco Use Among Women - This report explains the health consequences of smoking among women.
   
   
7.   Surgeon General's Report: Women and Smoking Fact Sheet - Tobacco Use and Reproductive Outcomes - This fact sheet provides detailed information on the effects of smoking on a woman's reproductive health, and the health of a baby exposed to cigarette smoke. Detailed statistics are also included.
   
   
8.   Women, Tobacco, and Cancer: An Agenda for the 21st Century - The 2001 report of the Surgeon General, Women and Smoking, identifies several strategies to reduce smoking among women. In addition, in 2001, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) highlighted research on tobacco and tobacco related cancers in its annual budget document. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Healthy People 2010 continues to make smoking cessation and prevention a priority.
   
   
9.   Your Risk of Smoking: Learning About Your Own Risk (or the risk of a smoker you know) - Everyone has heard that smoking cigarettes is unhealthy, but few people really know how big these health effects are. This tool gives individualized smoking risk information. It allows smokers to get personalized information about their own risk. The information refers specifically to people who: started to smoke at the same age as you, are your age now, smoke the same number of cigarettes a day, are the same sex as you.
   
   
10. FAQ on Smoking and Breastfeeding (Copyright © LLLI) - This fact sheet provides information on the health risks to a baby when the mother is a smoker.
    
    
11. Impact of Smoking on Women (Copyright © American Medical Women's Association) - This fact sheet discusses evidence showing that women who smoke are more frequently diagnosed with chronic illnesses. It also provides suggestions on how to quit, and immediate benefits of quitting smoking.
    
    
12. Need Help Putting Out That Cigarette? (Copyright © Smoke Free Families) - This booklet includes benefits of quitting for you and your baby, ways to prepare to quit, setting a quit date, how to handle "slips" and tips for after the baby is born.
    
    
13. Smoking During Pregnancy - This publication contains information on how smoking harms the newborn, complications smoking can cause during pregnancy, how smoking can affect fertility, problems smoking parents can cause babies or young children, how women can protect their babies from risks associated with smoking and other references related to pregnancy and smoking.
    
    
14. Smoking May Increase Risk of Cervical Cancer (Copyright © ACS) - This article discusses research findings indicating that women smokers have a higher rate of cervical cancer, but that diet does not seem to affect the rate of cervical cancer.
    
    
15. What are the Benefits of Quitting Smoking? (Copyright © ALA) - This fact sheet explains how your health improves as soon as you stop smoking. It illustrates a timeline of health benefits that begin 30 minutes after smoking cessation and improve for years to follow.
    
    
16. Women and Smoking (Copyright © American Legacy Foundation) - The Women and Smoking campaign features real women battling very real tobacco-related illnesses like emphysema, lung cancer, and throat cancer. The web site presents their real parting letters to their family and loved ones that they have generously allowed us to view.