Smoking is harmful to both men and women, but it also impacts particular functions of the female body. If you’re a woman who smokes, this is how you’re harming your health, in addition to greatly increasing your risk of cancer:

Smoking affects your period

Women who smoke are more likely to experience irregular or painful periods.

Smoking affects your reproductive health

Tobacco use can damage a woman’s reproductive health. Women who smoke are more likely to have trouble getting pregnant. Smokers tend to be younger at the start of menopause than non-smokers and may have more unpleasant symptoms while going through menopause. Smoking can also cause problems during pregnancy that can harm both mother and baby. Smokers have a higher risk of the placenta (the organ that protects and nourishes the foetus) growing too close to the opening of the uterus. Smokers are also more likely to experience early membrane ruptures and placentas that separate from the uterus too early. Bleeding, early delivery (premature birth) and emergency Caesarean section (C-section) may result from these problems. Smokers are more likely to have miscarriages and stillbirths, too.

Smoking causes premature aging

Smoking can speed up the normal aging process of your skin, contributing to wrinkles. How does smoking lead to wrinkles? The nicotine in cigarettes causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the outermost layers of your skin. This impairs blood flow to your skin. With less blood flow, your skin doesn’t get as much oxygen and important nutrients, such as vitamin A. Many of the over 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke also damage collagen and elastin, which are vital fibres that give your skin its strength and elasticity. As a result, skin begins to sag and wrinkle prematurely because of smoking.

Smoking increases your risk of heart disease and stroke

Women who smoke greatly increase their risk of heart disease (the leading killer among women) and stroke. Risk goes up according to the number of cigarettes smoked and the length of time a woman has been smoking. Even though most of the women who die from heart disease are post- menopausal, smoking increases the risk more in younger women than in older women. Some studies suggest that smoking increases the risk of heart disease even further among younger women who are also taking birth-control pills.

Smoking damages your lungs

Smoking damages the airways and small air sacs in the lungs. This can cause chronic coughing, wheezing, trouble breathing, and long-term lung disease. Female smokers aged 35 or older are almost 13 times more likely to die from emphysema or bronchitis than those who don’t smoke. Smoking “low tar” or “light” cigarettes does not reduce these risks, or any of the other health risks related to tobacco. The lungs grow more slowly in teenage girls who smoke and adult women who smoke start losing lung function in early adulthood.