Smokers are at greater risk of developing artery complications. This animation illustrates the difference between an artery in a smoker and a non-smoker
animation:
Women and smoking
Prevalence
According to the Surgeon General, the decline in smoking rates among adult women stalled in the 1990s, while at the same time, rates were rising steeply among teenaged girls, blunting earlier progress.
The prevalence of women age 18 and older who smoke is 20.7 percent in the United States. Smoking prevalence was highest among American Indian or Alaska Native women, intermediate among white women and black women, and lowest among Hispanic women and Asian or Pacific Islander women.
Smoking rates among white women, age 18 to 24, from families with lower education levels are substantially higher (61 percent) than smoking rates among black and Mexican-American youths (35 percent) from families with similar education levels. Smoking rates among women with less than a high school education are three times higher than for college graduates.
Teenaged girls who smoke
Nearly all women who smoke started as teenagers - and 30 percent of high school senior girls are still current smokers. In 2000, 29.7 percent of high school senior girls reported having smoked within the past 30 days. Adolescent girls who smoke have reduced rates of lung growth, which contributes to a number of health problems into adulthood.
Increased risk of premature death
Since 1980, approximately 3 million U.S. women have died prematurely from smoking related causes due to cancer, cardiovascular, respiratory, and pediatric diseases, as well as cigarette-caused burns. Each year during the 1990s, U.S. women lost an estimated 2.1 million years of life due to these smoking-attributable premature deaths. Additionally, women who smoke experience gender-specific health consequences, including increased risk of problems related to pregnancy and fertility.
Smoking and fertility
Women who smoke have increased risks for conception delay and for both primary and secondary infertility.
Smoking during pregnancy
Smoking during pregnancy remains a major public health problem. Even though the prevalence of smoking during pregnancy has declined steadily in recent years, there are still substantial numbers of pregnant women who continue to smoke (12.9 percent to as high as 22 percent, according to numbers reported by the Surgeon General in 1998). About one-third of women who stop smoking during pregnancy are still nonsmokers one year after the delivery.
Smoking during pregnancy affects you and your baby's health before, during, and after your baby is born. The nicotine, carbon monoxide, and numerous other poisons you inhale from a cigarette are carried through your bloodstream and go directly to your baby. Smoking while pregnant will:
Lower the amount of oxygen available to you and your growing baby
Increase your baby's heart rate
Increase the chances of miscarriage and stillbirth
Increase the risk that your baby is born prematurely and/or born with low birth weight
Increase your baby's risk of developing respiratory problems
The more cigarettes you smoke per day, the greater your baby's chances of developing these and other health problems. There is no "safe" level of smoking for your baby's health. If you continue to smoke after your baby is born, you increase his or her chance of developing certain illnesses and problems, such as:
Frequent colds
Bronchitis and pneumonia
Asthma
Chronic coughs
Ear infections
High blood pressure
Learning and behavior problems later in childhood
Smoking and menopause
Women who smoke are younger at natural menopause than non-smokers and may experience more menopausal symptoms. This is significant since menopause dramatically increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Postmenopausal women who currently smoke have lower bone density than do women who do not smoke. In addition, postmenopausal women who currently smoke have an increased risk for hip fracture compared with nonsmoking postmenopausal women
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