Women who smoke are more likely to develop heart attacks at a much earlier age than non-smoking women, a Norwegian study has found. An average smoker can expect to have a heart attack around the age of 66 - although it can occur at a much younger age for some women, the study said.

The latest study looked at almost 1,800 patients admitted to Lillehammer Hospital, Norway, for a first heart attack from which they recovered and were discharged, or died in hospital between 1998 and 2005. About one in three patients were women, ranging in age from 27 years to 103 year.

Lead researcher Dr. Morten Grundtvig, who released the data on Monday at the European Society of Cardiology congress in Munich, said that women smokers were struck by heart attack the age of 66.2 years while the average age for a first attack among women who did not smoke was 80.7 years, a difference of 14.5 years.

In men, the average age for a first heart attack among non-smokers was 72.2 years and 64 years in smokers - a difference of 6.2 years. The difference arose after the researchers took into consideration other known risk factors for heart attacks, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and earlier strokes or angina.