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For women, smoking is a heavier habit than for men
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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The results of three large studies conducted in the USA, Canada and England showed that for women, smoking is a more serious habit than for men.
The analysis of data from all three scientific projects was carried out by researchers from the Society for the Study of Women's Health in the United States. The specialists were convinced that women who quit smoking experience much more severe withdrawal symptoms. They also respond worse to nicotine replacement therapy. Women over 50 have a particularly difficult time in this regard - it is so difficult for the fairer sex to give up the bad habit at this age that most attempts to "quit" smoking remain unsuccessful. The researchers note that relapses occur much more often among women who quit smoking than among men who have quit the bad habit.
According to experts, it is more difficult for women to quit smoking mainly because they quickly become disillusioned with the possibility of giving up nicotine. The weight gain that many former smokers experience after quitting tobacco. Stress and negative emotions, to which women are more vulnerable than men - all this creates the feeling that instead of cigarettes, other factors become the problem, which greatly complicate life. Women stop making efforts, believing that they are not able to quit smoking.
In recent years, the average age of female smokers has dropped significantly. In the late 90s, women first tried smoking at 20-22 years old. Today, girls aged 12-13 are already suffering from tobacco addiction.
Women who smoke are more likely to develop lung cancer than men, presumably because the female hormones estrogens cause the cancer-causing components of tobacco to combine with the DNA in lung cells, causing them to mutate.
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