Quitting smoking harder for women than for men?

A review of numerous research studies focusing on smoking cessation has concluded that while women may suffer greater relative risks of smoking-related diseases than do men, they tend to have less success than men in quitting smoking. Some forms of nicotine replacement therapy may not be as effective in women as in men. In some of the studies he reviewed, women had less treatment success using nicotine gum or nicotine patches than did men. In contrast, other stop-smoking medications may more effective in women than men. Because negative mood is more likely to precipitate smoking relapse in women than in men. But women may suffer greater relative risks of smoking-related diseases than do men.

The health risks associated with smoking for both men and women are well known, and include a two-fold increase in risks of heart disease and of cancers of the bladder, stomach, and pancreas, a 10-20 fold increase in lung cancer, and a 10-fold increase in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Smoking also significantly increases risks of stroke and pneumonia.

Most health risks associated with smoking are reduced or eventually eliminated when smoking abstinence is maintained.