Cigarette smoking and women's respiratory health.

Cigarette smoking is claiming an increasing health toll among women, with rising morbidity and mortality related to lung cancer and COPD. Whether women are more susceptible to the effects of cigarettes with regard to carcinogenesis and development of COPD remains controversial. Gender differences clearly exist in certain aspects of cigarette-related disease, including histologic distribution of lung cancer and the ability of smokers to quit. It is likely that gender differences also exist in the reasons that individuals choose to smoke. Understanding those reasons will be important in developing targeted programs for smoking cessation and in addressing the challenge of the prevention of smoking initiation in women.