Women who smoke face a "significantly" increased risk of suffering a sudden heart attack, researchers warned last night.
Even women who smoke no more than one or two cigarettes a day face a doubled risk of suffering sudden cardiac death, according to research which involved more than 100,000 nurses.
Researchers tracked the nurses for more than 30 years until they were aged between 60 and 55.
In that time some 351 of the nurses died from a sudden heart attack.
The findings were reported in the journal Circulation: Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology.
Researchers said a woman’s risk of sudden cardiac death dropped as soon as she stopped smoking – unless she already had heart disease.
Researcher Dr Roopinder Sandhu, of the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, said: "Cigarette smoking is a known risk factor for sudden cardiac death, but until now, we didn’t know how the quantity and duration of smoking affected the risk among apparently healthy women, nor did we have long-term follow-up."
British campaigners said the findings highlighted the need for women smokers to make a New Year’s resolution to quit.
Ellen Mason, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "This study shows that smoking just a couple of cigarettes a day could still seriously affect your future health.
"As we approach the New Year, many of us will be making resolutions and giving up smoking will be top of the list for lots of people.
"If you’re thinking of quitting and need a nudge, this research adds to the wealth of evidence that stopping smoking is the single best thing you can do for your heart health."
Roopinder K. Sandhu et al. Smoking, Smoking Cessation and Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death in Women. Circulation: Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology December 11 2012; doi: 10.1161/CIRCEP.112.975219.
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