Risk of lung cancer death among women rises dramatically
“If women smoke like men, they will die like men”
Female smokers have a much greater risk of death from lung cancer and chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) in recent years than did female smokers 20 or 40 years ago, reflecting changes in smoking behavior according to a Special Article published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
The increase in risk of death from lung cancer and COLD in female smokers has been large enough to completely offset improvements in longevity from medical advances that have reduced death rates in the rest of the population over the last 50 years. In total the study included more than 2.2 million adults 55 years and older.