Women Smokers Suffer Fatal Bleeding Stroke More Than Men

'Smoking is injurious to health' might be an age old warning that most people choose to ignore, but a latest study suggests that women cannot disregard this warning as they are more at risk than men to a deadlier and less common type of stroke.

The study published in the journal 'Stroke' showed that women smokers were at 17 percent increased risk of bleeding (hemorrhagic) stroke than men smokers. The results were based on observations of 80 international studies released between 1966 and 2013.

The findings also showed that over 50 percent of ischemic strokes in men and women were linked to smoking. A person suffers from ischemic stroke when blood clots obstruct the blood flow to the brain.

"Cigarette smoking is a major risk factor for stroke for both men and women, but fortunately, quitting smoking is a highly effective way to lower your stroke risk," lead author Rachel Huxley, a professor in the School of Population Health at the University of Queensland, in Australia, said in a news release. She advised that policies targeting tobacco control should be included in stroke prevention programs. The researchers stressed that quitting smoking can hugely reduce the chances of developing strokes in both the sexes.

However, the researchers were unclear of the reason behind smoking and greater risk of bleeding stroke in women.

According to the researchers, higher risk of hemorrhagic strokes can be because of the way nicotine affects blood fats. They also said the women smokers have more fats, cholesterol and triglycerides than men smokers.

In the U.S., blockage of blood to brain is the leading cause of strokes, according to National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Nicotine increases blood pressure; carbon monoxide present in the cigarette reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood supplied to the brain; and smoking makes blood thicker and more likely to clot. The health experts at NINDS said quitting smoking at any age will reduce the risk of lung disease, heart disease, others cancers including lung cancer.