Smoking Raises Risk for Symptomatic Peripheral Artery Disease in Women

In the U.S., 18% of women are current smokers. Smoking contributes to risk for peripheral artery disease (PAD), but the extent of smoking's effect on PAD in women is poorly characterized. Using data on 40,000 women without heart disease from the Women's Health Study, researchers evaluated the association between smoking (and smoking cessation) and symptomatic PAD (defined as intermittent claudication or peripheral artery intervention).

During median follow-up of 13 years, 178 PAD events occurred. The age-adjusted incidence of PAD ranged from 0.12/1000 person-years in women who had never smoked to 1.63 among women who smoked ≥15 cigarettes daily at study entry. Analysis adjusted for traditional risk factors and use of hormone therapy did not …