A major new study has revealed that women smokers could be more at risk of heart disease than their male counterparts.

The research, published in prestigious medical journal The Lancet, found the increased risk of developing heart disease because of smoking is 25 per cent higher for women compared to men.

Chief Medical Adviser for the National Heart Foundation of Australia, Professor Jim Tatoulis, said that, if you smoke, you are at least twice as likely to have a heart attack, and three times as likely to have a stroke.

“Smoking kills more than 15,000 Australians each year and is directly responsible for over 7,000 cardiovascular deaths annually in Australia,” he said.

“Although the overall rate of smoking in Australia has been falling, and now 19% of Australians are daily smokers, unfortunately the proportion of women that smoke is increasing.

“The highest number of smokers, both males and females are in the 20 to 49 year age group.

“We are even more concerned that that 1 in 10 teenage girls smoke daily (compared to 1 in 17 teenage males), thus placing themselves at very high risk for heart attack, stroke and lung cancer as they age.

“Other factors like the contraceptive pill and inadequate physical activity, when combined with smoking leave women even more vulnerable to heart, lung and blood vessel disease.

“Most smokers know they should quit, but not all of them know that half of all smokers will die from a tobacco related disease, and half of those deaths will occur in middle age.

“The good news is that there is a rapid decline in the risk of heart disease, stroke and other blood vessel disease, within one year of quitting, so it’s never too late”, Professor Tatoulis concluded.