Companies may be forced to change the printed labels on cigarette packaging after a survey suggested smoking may be more harmful for women than it is to men.

According to a study at the University of Minnesota and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the risk of developing heart disease as a result of tobacco is 25 per cent higher for females than for males.

It was also found that for every year of follow-up the study performed, the likelihood of developing heart disease rose by two per cent.
This was despite the fact that women tended to smoke fewer cigarettes per day than men.

The British Heart Foundation called the results "alarming" and health experts called for the printed labels on cigarettes to be altered.

"This is particularly timely research as tobacco companies are increasingly targeting women with slim brands and slick packaging," Elen De Lacy, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) Wales, told the Western Mail.

Ash states that one-third of all cancer deaths are also caused by smoking.

Denny Bros Ltd, 17 August 2011