Women smoke for different reasons. Some women smoke to deal with stress or control weight. Younger women may start smoking to rebel, show independence, or be accepted by their peers. But there is never a good reason to smoke.

Health Reasons to Quit
Smoking causes serious health problems, including:

• cancers of the lung, throat, mouth, larynx, esophagus, pancreas, kidney, bladder, cervix, and stomach
• leukemia (a cancer of blood-forming tissues)
• lung diseases
• atherosclerosis, or hardening and narrowing of the arteries
• heart attacks
• stroke
• gum disease
• eye diseases that can lead to blindness

Smoking also:

• makes illnesses last longer
• causes more wound infections after surgery
• makes it harder to get pregnant
• increases your risk of getting a hip fracture

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