Is it bad to smoke when on birth control pill, how risky are blood clotting problems and strokes?

Correlations: There is a distinct increase in risk of a stroke in those women who have a history of migraine with aura (classical migraine) who take birth control pills and also smoke. Why spend huge sums of money, get exposed to lung cancer or copd, or early heart disease, or as above, a stroke, and destroy your life? If you or close one smokes, get it stopped.

Multifactorial: Combination of factors. Add obesity and sedentary lifestyles in north america and you are at higher risk. It is common for european and increasingly asian females to smoke and be on the pill but they generally walk more and are skinnier and it does not appear to be a problem. Blood clots and strokes are bad when they happen - reducing risk factors is best.