Almost 60,000 women in the United States die every year due to tobacco-related cancer. In 2014, it was 70,000. Smoking is now directly responsible for 80% of lung cancer deaths in women in the U.S. each year1.

In 1987, lung cancer surpassed breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the U.S2. Today, frequent tobacco use remains the most common reason for cancer in women.

Compared with women who are nonsmokers, women who smoke cigarettes have greater risks of reproductive health problems, many forms of gynecologic cancer and other types of cancer, coronary and vascular disease, chronic obstructive lung disease, and osteoporosis3. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) brought on from smoking is also nearly 22 times more likely to kill women when compared to those who have never smoked4.

Tobacco use negatively affects every organ system and is the most prevalent cause of premature death for adults within the United States3. But perhaps the most alarming aspect of these statistics is that 100% of these tragic deaths can be avoided if women simply practice healthy habits when it comes to smoking.

Here are some tips that will help you learn about the dangers of smoking, the psychological science behind quitting, and how to help someone you love kick the habit for good:

• Dependence on tobacco and nicotine is chemically wired within your brain. While you DO have the willpower to quit, recognize that when you're craving a cigarette, there's a chemical process occurring.
• Set realistic goals.
• Know you are going to experience mood swings and emotional reactions that may seem out of the ordinary.
• Recognize what triggers you to smoke.
• Educate your children on the dangers of smoking as early as possible!
• Support your friends who are trying to quit! You can help save your loved ones' lives!

Sign the pledge below and promise to take care of yourself and the women in your life by getting educated on the statistics of tobacco deaths and by quitting smoking for good!

More on this issue:

1. Office of the Surgeon General, Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (2004), "The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General."
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1999-2016), "Compressed Mortality File."
3. Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (September 2011), "Tobacco Use and Women's Health."
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (28 April 2020), "Tobacco-Related Mortality."