Smoking and Sustaining an Erection - The Sad Truth Article

Smoking and Sustaining an Erection - The Sad Truth

Erectile dysfunction, the inability of a man to initiate and maintain erection, can be attributed to psychological or organic (physical) causes. Roughly 75% of the cases have physical causes such as medical conditions including diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol levels. However, smoking is also pointed as a major culprit in increasing the risk of erectile dysfunction. In the UK alone, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and the British Medical Association (BMA) estimate that 120, 000 men in their 30's and 40's developed impotence because of smoking. This is likely to be an underestimate because it does not include the number of impotent men who previously smoked but have stopped.

In a study of 4,462 Vietnam War veterans between the ages of 31 and 49, it has been found out that the risk of impotence increases by 80% for smokers compared to non - smokers. Even when this value was adjusted when other factors were considered, the risk factor is still increased by 50%. Furthermore, smoking increases other risk factors for impotence. Smoking has been considered to cause complete impotence in men with hypertension, high cholesterol levels and diabetes. Therefore, smoking is not just a risk factor in itself; it actually worsens the effects of other risk factors.

The number of smokers in impotence clinics is also significantly higher than non - smokers suggesting that there might be a correlation between smoking and impotence. In 178 patients in an impotence clinic in the USA, 82% are either smokers or ex - smokers. This figure is significantly larger than 58%, which is the percentage of smokers and ex - smokers in the general population. Only 19% of the patients have never smoked compared to 42% in the general population. The average penile blood pressure (PBI) is also lower in patients who have smoked than those who have not. A considerably higher number of impotent patients have abnormally low PBI if they have a history of smoking compared to those who have not. There also seems to be a relationship between length of smoking habit and abnormally low PBI.

Smoking does not only do damage to men's ability to have and sustain an erection. It has also been found out that smoking affects sexual health by reducing volume of ejaculate, lowering sperm count, causing both abnormal sperm shape and impaired sperm motility.

The sad thing about this is that majority of smokers are not even aware of the risks smoking has to their sexual health. In a polling done by MORI for ASH in March 1999, only 12% of the smokers mentioned smoking as a cause of male impotence. Eighty - eight percent of the smokers do not have an idea about the possible damages of their habit to their sexual function.