Smoking Risk Called Worse for Women
GENEVA — Women smokers, long thought more immune to tobacco-related diseases than men, face more risks to life and health than their male counterparts, according to a World Health Organization report issued Wednesday.
At present rates, the report says, well over a million women will be dying every year of lung cancer and other diseases related to smoking by the year 2020--more than double the present toll.
“Until recently, mortality rates from smoking-related diseases were low among women, leading to the assumption that they might be more resistant than men to the damage caused by tobacco,” an official summary of the report says.
“Data now make it clear that women are as vulnerable as men and face additional risks as well,” it declares.
Among the additional risks women smokers run are infections of the reproductive tract and fertility disorders, Chollat-Traquet found.
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