Scientists, led by an Indian-origin researcher, have found that women who are even light-to-moderate smokers may be significantly more likely to suffer sudden cardiac death as compared to non-smokers.

The findings of the new study indicate long-term smokers may be at even greater risk, but smoking can reduce and eliminate the risk over time.

"Cigarette smoking is a known risk factor for sudden cardiac death, but until now, we didn't know how the quantity and duration of smoking effected the risk among apparently healthy women, nor did we have long-term follow-up," Roopinder KSandhu, the study's lead author from the University of Alberta, Canada, said.

Researchers examined the incidence of sudden cardiac death among more than 1,01,000 healthy women in the Nurses' Health Study, which has collected biannual health questionnaires from female nurses nationwide since 1976.