Can Smoking Cigarettes Cause Impotence In Men?

A recent survey revealed that smoking DOUBLES your chances of becoming impotent.

We all know that cigarettes are bad for your health, causing heart disease, lung cancer and premature death. Now health experts are adding another potential complication from smoking...erectile dysfunction.

Medical authorities and anti-smoking lobby groups are attempting to use the results from recent studies to not only encourage older men to give up, but to also prevent younger men from taking up the habit. 

It's been suggested that if a media campaign was launched to present the results of the clinical studies to men, perhaps becoming impotent may be seen as a greater threat than contracting lung cancer. As you can imagine this type of warning on cigarette packs and advertisements would have quite an impact!

As Dr. John Spangler, Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center pointed out:

"Informing men who smoke of the exceptionally high possibility of developing [impotence] erectile dysfunction may motivate many to quit their tobacco habit."

Dr. Spangler said that the link had been established by previous investigations, including finding what doctors refer to as a "dose response relationship" - in other words, the more cigarettes smoked per day, the greater the chance of impotence.

Clinical studies conducted on humans and animals have confirmed that smoking inhibits the ability to achieve a full erection. Cigarette smoking hardens arteries (atherosclerosis), which affects blood flow, and over time prevents the blood vessels in the penis from being able to engorge with blood and produce an erection. 

Smoking also leads to long-term damage to the nervous system, which in turn leads to erectile dysfunction. 

Dr. Spangler went on to say:

"A smoking history should be obtained from all patients, especially those who report [impotence] erectile dysfunction. 

Informing men who smoke about the exceptionally high likelihood of developing the problem should become a standard part of care of these patients."

The results of these smoking and impotence studies are not surprising to those in the medical community. The affect of smoking on the cardiovascular system has long been established, and since impotence is directly related to blood flow, it makes sense that something that damages the heart and blood vessels could cause erectile dysfunction.

The takeaway here is, if you do smoke cigarettes, and you have problems getting or maintaining an erection, that may be the cause. The good news is, although you will have to cut down if not quit entirely, at least you know there is no underlying cause of the problem, which could be difficult or even impossible to treat.

Here is just one more reason to stop smoking if you currently do. With so many serious potential side effects, why continue to do something that can ruin your life in so many ways?

Have you recently stopped smoking and noticed any relief in ED symptoms? We want to know about it. Share your story (anonymously) with our visitors so they can be encouraged to stop smoking as well.