MUNICH, Germany – Women naturally become heart patient much later than men, but not if they smoke, researchers said Tuesday. In fact, smoking, in women can cause heart attack fourteen years earlier than women who don’t smoke.

For men, the gap is not as big as in women. Male smokers have risk of heart attacks about six years earlier than non-smoker men.

“This is not a minor difference,” said Dr. Silvia Priori. “Women need to realize they are losing much more than men when they smoke,” she said.

Dr. Morten Grundtvig and colleagues from Norway based their study on data from 1,784 patients admitted with first heart attack at a hospital in Lillehammer.

Researchers found that, the average age is 72 in non-smoker men when they got first heart attack and 64 if they smoke. On the other hand women had first heart attack at an average age of 81 if they didn’t smoke, and at age 66 if they did.

After adjusting other risk factors for heart attack such as hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes, researchers conclude that the difference for women was about 14 years and for men, about 6 years.

Grundtvig said that smoking enhance the chances of early menopause, leaving them least protected against heart diseases. With growing rates of smoking in women, compared with declining rates in men, Grundtvig said that doctors expect to see increased heart attacks in women.

“Smoking might erase the natural advantage that women have,” said Dr. Robert Harrington, a professor of American College of Cardiology.

“The difference in how smoking affects women and men is deep,” Harrington said. “Unless women don’t smoke or quit, they risk ending up with the same dreadful diseases as men, only at a much earlier age.”

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