Women smokers are
more at risk for health
problems and disease
(click to enlarge)
Researchers from the University of Oslo find women smokers are 59 percent more likely to have an early menopause and are at greater risk for osteoporosis and heart disease than women who do not smoke.
Headed by Dr. Thea F. Mikkelsen and her colleagues, the study focused on 2,123 women 59 to 60 years old who smoked heavily. The study showed that 59 percent of the heaviest smokers doubled their risk of early menopause.
Mikkelsen and her team said that women who were smokers but quit at least 10 years before menopause, were less likely to stop menstruating before 45 years old. Women who had quit smoking at least 10 years before menopause were 87 percent less likely than their peers who smoked to have gone through menopause early.
Other findings from the same study revealed that widows were also at increased risk of early menopause and women who were not in good health. Educated women, who for the most part, do not smoke, are also less likely to go into menopause early, and women with an active social life appear to lower the risk of an early menopause. The researchers also found that there was no link between coffee or alcohol consumption or passive exposure to smoke and early menopause risk. These findings can be fund in the online journal "BMC Public Health."
