1. A woman’s annual risk for death more than doubles among continuing smokers compared with persons who have never smoked in all age groups from 45 through 74 years.

2. The risk for lung cancer increases with quantity, duration, and intensity of smoking. The risk for dying of lung cancer is 20 times higher among women who smoke two or more packs of cigarettes per day than among women who do not smoke.

3. Smoking is a major cause of cancers of the oropharynx and bladder among women. Evidence is also strong that women who smoke have increased risks for liver, colorectal, and cervical cancer, and cancers of the pancreas and kidney. For cancers of the larynx and esophagus, evidence among women is more limited but consistent with large increases in risk.

4. Smoking is a major cause of coronary heart disease among women. Although a woman’s risk for heart disease increases with the number of cigarettes smoked and the duration of smoking, risk is substantially reduced within 1 or 2 years of quitting smoking.

5.  Women who smoke have an increased risk for stroke. The increased risk for stroke associated with smoking is reversible after smoking cessation; after 5 to 15 years of not smoking, the risk approaches that of women who have never smoked.

6. Cigarette smoking is a primary cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among women, and the risk increases with the amount and duration of smoking. Approximately 90 percent of deaths from COPD among women in the United States can be attributed to cigarette smoking. 

7. Adolescent girls who smoke have reduced rates of lung growth, and adult women who smoke experience a premature decline of lung function.

8. Women who quit smoking before or during pregnancy reduce the risk for adverse reproductive outcomes, including conception delay, infertility, premature rupture of membranes, premature birth, and low birth weight.

9. Postmenopausal women who currently smoke have lower bone density than do women who do not smoke. Also women who currently smoke have an increased risk for hip fracture compared with nonsmoking women.

10. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke is a cause of lung cancer among women who have never smoked and is associated with increased coronary heart disease risk.