SMOKING INCREASES THE risk of heart attacks more for women than it does for men, according to a new study.

The research, published in the respected British medical journal The Lancet, shows that women who smoke boost the chances of having a heart attack by 25 per cent more than male smokers. The results come from an analysis of research covering 2.4million people over more than 30 years.

It’s not clear why the risk is greater for women. However, the authors of the University of Minnesota study suggested that females may somehow absorb more toxins from the tobacco. “Women might extract a greater quantity of carcinogens and other toxic agents from the same number of cigarettes than men,” the report states.

Heart conditions are the world’s single biggest cause of death, according to the World Health Organisation, which adds that tobacco use is one of the main risk factors in causing heart disease.

Dr Angie Brown, medical director of the Irish Heart Foundation, said the results were “alarming”, but in keeping with previous information. “We already know that a startling 80 per cent of women who have heart attacks under the age of 40 are smokers, with smokers generally having twice the risk of heart attack than non smokers,” she said.

We know that nicotine is metabolised differently in women than in men and it’s likely that some of the other 4,000 chemicals and carcinogens in tobacco smoke may be having a more potent effect on women due to biological differences.

Jane Landon of the UK’s National Heart Forum told the BBC that tobacco companies also specifically target women, with “slim cigarettes in small, attractive packs in appealing textures and colours”.