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Article: Women smokers' heart disease linked to male hormone
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- June 30, 1988
CopyrightCopyright (null) Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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BOSTON Women who smoke cigarettes appear to have elevated levels
of male hormones, and that could explain why female smokers are at
increased risk of heart disease, researchers said Wednesday.
"We all know that smoking confers increased risk for coronary
heart disease, but nobody knows what the mechanism is," said Dr. Kay
Tee Khaw of the University of California in San Diego.
"This hormonal mechanism may be one possible mechanism. Maybe
it makes them (women) more malelike and more prone to heart disease,"
she said.
Men long have been known to be at greater risk of heart attacks
even without smoking, but women who smoke have about twice the risk
of developing heart disease as do women ...