Research indicates women smokers more likely to develop heart disease than men

Biological differences between men and women may cause female smokers to be at greater risk of heart disease linked to the chemicals in cigarettes, new research suggests.

U.S. researchers sifted through data on four million people from scores of studies and found the risk of heart disease linked to smoking was 25 percent higher for women, the Guardian reported.

Men could smoke for the same length of time as women but would be less likely to develop heart disease, according to findings published Thursday in The Lancet medical journal.

Dr. Rachel Huxley, from the University of Minnesota, and Dr. Mark Woodward, from Johns Hopkins University, of Maryland, wrote:

Women might extract a greater quantity of carcinogens and other toxic agents from the same number of cigarettes than men. This occurrence could explain why women who smoke have double the risk of lung cancer compared with their male counterparts.

Physicians and health professionals should be encouraged to increase their efforts at promotion of smoking cessation in all individuals. Present trends in female smoking, and this report, suggest that inclusion of a female perspective in tobacco-control policies is crucial.

British Heart Foundation senior cardiac nurse Ellen Mason told the Guardian the researchers' conclusions were "alarming" and should be a warning to everyone, not just women, about the dangers of smoking.

"This is very timely research as tobacco companies are increasingly targeting women with slim brands and slick packaging," she said.

The World Health Organization says heart disease is the world's biggest killer, affecting more than seven million people a year, the BBC reported.