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Question:
Is there a relationship between cigarettes
and Impotence?
Impotence
in men - but
this time it's
great news!
One
of the great benefits of now being a non-smoker
is the dramatic improvement you'll now
experience in your sex life. Your blood will run
more freely and fully now....and you'll
experience longer and harder erections.
The
other great benefit is that you won't suffer
from one of the worst effects of cigarettes: penile
erectile dysfunction
Penile
erectile dysfunction or impotence is the repeated inability to have or maintain an
erection.
Cigarettes increases the risk
of erectile dysfunction by around 50% for men in their 30s and 40s.
During an erection......large
quantities of blood flow, under pressure, into the penile arteries.
This causes the veins which drain the penis to become compressed, so
preventing the immediate outflow of blood. This process is
significantly impaired by smoking.
Less blood flows into the penis if the inflow route is blocked by
long term build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries (atherosclerosis)
caused, in part, by cigarettes.
Rapid contractions in penile tissue, a direct and immediate result
of nicotine stimulation in the brain, restrict arterial blood flow
into the penis. This is known as acute vasospasm.
The valve mechanism that traps blood in the penis is impaired as a
result of nicotine in the blood stream. This is known as venous
dilation.
The damage caused by
cigarettes to male sexual health also includes:
- Reduced volume of
ejaculate
- Lowered sperm count
- Abnormal sperm shape
- Impaired sperm motility
The bottom line is:
Cigarettes are a major and
avoidable hazard for sexual health. Given that two of the three main
side effects of smoking on erectile function are acute responses to
nicotine, then immediate improvements on stopping smoking are
possible.
Medical
research also links smoking with other areas of male sexual health, including
reduced volume of ejaculate, lowered sperm count, abnormal sperm shape
and impaired sperm motility. Smoking is also linked
to pyospermia, a condition manifested in swollen testes with excess
white blood cells (pus) present in ejaculate.
It is
now clear that smokers are more likely to develop impotence in just the
same way that they develop heart disease. However if they can stop smoking,
there will once again enjoy prolonged normal sexual function.
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