Question:
Smoking and Erectile Dysfunction in Men?
Answer:
Cigarette smoking causes a variety of life-threatening diseases, including
lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease and Erectile Dysfunction. An
estimated 430,000 deaths each year are directly caused by cigarette smoking.
Smoking is responsible for changes in all parts of the body, including the
digestive system and human impotence.
Current estimates indicate that about one-third of all adults smoke. And,
while adult men seem to be smoking less, women and teenagers of both sexes
seem to be smoking more.
Harmful Effects
Smoking has been shown to have harmful effects on all parts of the digestive
system, contributing to such common disorders as heartburn and peptic
ulcers. It also increases the risk of Crohn's disease and possibly
gallstones. Smoking seems to affect the liver, too, by changing the way it
handles drugs and alcohol. In fact, there seems to be enough evidence to
stop smoking solely on the basis of digestive distress.
British Medical Association (BMA) estimates that up to 120,000 UK men in
their 30s and 40s are impotent as a direct consequence of smoking. This
figure is likely to be an underestimate, because it does not include
impotence due to previous smoking in men who no longer smoke.
Other Impact of Smoking to male sexual health also includes:
. Smoking reduced volume of ejaculate
. Smoking reduced sperm count
. Smoking cause of abnormal sperm shape
Mechanisms
When you smoke tobacco, you inhale hydrocarbons that damage the lining of
arteries to start plaques forming in their inner linings and slow the flow
of blood. Nicotine constricts arteries to make them even narrower. When your
arteries leading to your heart are completely blocked, you suffer a heart
attack. When the arteries leading to a man's penis are blocked, he is
impotent.
Arteriosclerosis is the most common cause of impotence in North America.
This process is significantly impaired by smoking.
1. 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 smoking.
2. Rapid contractions in penile tissue, a direct an immediate result of
nicotine stimulation in the brain, restrict arterial blood flow into the
penis. This is known as acute vasospasm.
3. 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.
Prospects of recovery:
Smoking is a major and avoidable hazard for sexual health. Given that two of
the three main side effects of smoking on Erectile Dysfunction are acute
responses to nicotine, then immediate improvements on stopping smoking are
possible.
Warning:
. Smoking causes cancer.
. Smoking causes heart disease.
. Smoking causes fatal diseases.
. Smoking caused of Erectile Dysfunctions.
. Smoking when pregnant harms your baby
. Protect children: don't make them breathe your smoke
. Smoking causes cancer, chronic bronchitis and other chest diseases
. People die each year due to cause of lung cancer.
. Every year, addiction to smoking claims more victims than road accidents.
. Smokers die younger.
. Don't smoke if you want to stay healthy.
Tips to Help You Quit Smoking
Before you quit smoking, try the following:
. Write down what you like about smoking and what you don't like about
quitting. Then reverse this process. Write down what you don't like about
smoking and reasons to quit.
. Cut out a few of your favorite cigarettes during the day.
. For 3 to 5 days, use a notebook to keep track of when you smoke each
cigarette. Also note what you're doing and how you're feeling when you reach
for a cigarette. Look for patterns in your smoking.
To cope with craving and withdrawal when you quit, try the following:
. Ask your doctor about using some form of nicotine replacement therapy,
such as a nicotine patch, nicotine gum, nicotine inhaler, nicotine nasal
spray or nicotine lozenge.
. Talk to your doctor about other drug therapies, such as bupropion (one
brand name: Zyban), that you might use just for a while to help reduce your
cravings.
. Consider starting an exercise program. Exercise often helps reduce
withdrawal symptoms, and it gives you something to do when you get a
craving.
. Check with your doctor to find out about deep-breathing, relaxation and
imaging techniques that can help you cope with stress and cravings.
. Avoid doing the things that trigger your cravings for a cigarette. Look
back in your notebook to find out these triggers.
To prevent relapse, try the following:
. Plan ahead and practice how you'll handle difficult situations, such as
being around friends and family members who smoke, managing stressful
situations and coping with negative feelings like anger, sadness and
anxiety.
. Look for smoke-free options, such as smoke-free Alcoholics Anonymous
meetings and other support groups, like Nicotine Anonymous. Plan activities
where smoking is unlikely or with family members and friends who don't
smoke. Sit in the nonsmoking sections of restaurants.
. Remember that breaking down and having a cigarette doesn't mean that
you're a failure or that you have totally relapsed to smoking. Instead,
"climb back on the wagon" and try again.
