If you are a woman on birth control and are smoking, STOP!  If you are smoking, stop anyway, but this is alarming.

Women who are on birth control should have been told by their doctor to not smoke.  There is good reason for it.  Studies have shown that women who take birth control and smoke are at far greater risk of having a first time heart attack, up to 30 times more than a woman who doesn’t smoke!  The older the woman is, the greater the risk.  Also, a woman who has a family history of heart-related disease (heart attack, high cholesterol, high blood pressure) is at greater risk of developing heart disease if they combine birth control and nicotine.

If you are a woman who is at great risk, please consult with your doctor to find a smoking cessation program that is right for you.  Please visit www.americanheart.org for more information related to keeping your heart healthy.

(Please consider this post as general information and not medical advice; always follow the advice of your health care provider.)