In a puff of smoke...

The gender gap closes

Women who smoke are at risk of developing heart disease at almost the same age as male smokers, eliminating the natural life expectancy gap between the sexes.

Norwegian researchers have found that women who smoke have heart attacks nearly 14 years earlier than women who don't. Men who smoke generally have their first heart attack at age 64, and at 72 if they don't smoke, meaning their difference is just six years.

The research, presented to the European Society of Cardiology, is a fly in the ointment for scientists who had previously thought that oestrogen protected females from heart disease. While oestrogen is thought to raise levels of good cholesterol and enable blood vessels to relax more easily, scientists now believe that smoking erases this natural advantage for women.