Each Cigarette Puff Leads Young Women to Elevated Risk of stroke

Young women smokers are at a significant higher risk of having a stroke, a new study has found. Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine suggest that women who smoke are twice as likely to have the risk of stroke compared to nonsmokers.

According to the study, published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, the young women’s risk of stroke increases with each puff of cigarette they smoke.

To reach their findings, the researchers, led by Dr. John Cole of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, assessed stroke risk in 466 women who smoked cigarettes and had suffered a stroke between the ages of 15 and 49. They compared this group with a group of 604 women of similar age, race, and ethnicity who had not had a stroke.

Dr. Cole and colleagues found in their study that women who smoked one to 10 cigarettes a day increased their stroke risk 2.2 times, while those who smoked 40 or more cigarettes a day had a stroke risk 9.1 times higher than a nonsmoker. The risk was 4.3 times greater for women smoking 21 to 39 cigarettes a day.

"The more you smoke, the more likely you are to have a stroke," Cole said. "Certainly quitting is the best thing you could do. But cutting back does offer some benefit."

The study also found that smoking not only raises the risk of stroke but also of many other health dangers such as damaging blood vessels and making blood clots more likely. The findings also showed the benefit of quitting smoking. The researchers found stroke risk began to decline as early as 30 days after the women quit smoking with a return to normal risk after two years.

"Our study adds strong evidence that cutting down helps reduce stroke risk, but quitting is unquestionably the best option," Dr. Cole said.

It is already known that smoking pose a very serious health hazard. Over the years increasing statistical evidence related smoking to cardiovascular and lung disease, especially bronchitis, emphysema, and cancer.

Despite known harmful effects of smoking, it is still so common. An estimated 21 percent of American women aged 18-44 are current smokers, the researchers said.

A umber of previous studies have linked smoking with the increased risk of having stroke, but the latest study confirms the elevated risk of strokes especially in young women. Cole is also planning a similar study looking at stroke risk specifically in younger male smokers.