Cigarette Smoking and Serious Cardiovascular Events

• Cigarette smoking increases the risk of serious cardiovascular events from combination oral contraceptive (COC) use.
• This risk increases with age, particularly in women over the age of 35 yrs, and with the number of cigarettes smoked.
• For this reason, COCs should not be used in women who are over 35 years of age and smoke. [See Contraindications]