Winter Maladies: Natural Approaches
June Russell's Health Facts
Smoking - Men
Couples are more likely to have girl than a boy if either of the partners smoked heavily while they were trying to conceive, new research in the Lancet medical journal suggests. Some scientists consider the ratio of male to female births to be an indicator of a population's health, because male sperm and embryos are more fragile than their female counterparts. Normally, boys have a slight edge over girls, with almost 52% of all babies born worldwide being male. The balance tends to even out later in life because females are better at survival. However, the number of males has been declining in several industrial countries over the past few decades and researchers suspect toxic substances may be partly to blame. ("Study: Smokers more likely to have girls," The Daily Progress newspaper, Charlottesville, Virginia, April 19, 2002. London) Editor's comment: One pack a day is considered heavy smoking.
There are far smaller gains in male life expectancy than women due to the greater impact of tobacco use in men. (Reuters, May 1997)
Men who smoke can damage their sperm and increase their children’s risk of developing cancer. (Reuters, Nov. 1997)
A smoking dad’s children are likely to have an increased risk of having children with brain cancer and leukemia, suggesting that smoking might have damaged the father’s sperm. (National Digest, Daily Progress, Jan. 24, 1991. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, N.C.)
Every cigarette a man smokes reduces his life by 11 minutes says a study in the British Medical Journal, and every year a man smokes a pack a day, he shortens his life by almost 2 months. (“Wellness Facts,” University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter, April 2000)
Men with cluster headaches are much more likely to be smokers. Cluster headaches can be devastating, and even life-threatening. (Joel Saper, Director of Michigan’s Head, Pain, and Neurological Institute. Ann Arbor, Michigan, on People’s Pharmacy, Public Radio, Jan. 1999)
Men with prostate cancer who also smoke have higher death rates than men with the disease who are nonsmokers. (American Journal of Epidemiology, 1997, Reuters, Feb. 1997)
Sex
Men who smoke have sex an average of 6 times a month and rate it as “5” on a scale of 1-10. Compare this to nonsmokers, who have a “9” sex twice as often. (Health and Healing newsletter, Julian Whitaker, M.D., June 2000)
Smokers are 7 times more likely to be completely impotent, according to the Mass. Male Aging Study. Half of the men between the ages of 40 and 70 report some type of sexual dysfunction. Increased blood flow to the penis in nightly erections is needed for men to remain sexually healthy, and in studies of smokers these nightly erections were almost non-existent. (PBS-T.V. Special, NOVA 1998)
Don't count on Viagra, as it is not as effective in smokers says Dr. Cully, Chairman of the Urology Dept. at the University of N.C. (Tobacco Free Kids. Jan. 1999)
Men who smoke not only have poorer sperm quality than nonsmokers, but also have lower sex drives and less frequent sex, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Canadian Fertility Society. Smokers had sex only half the times compared to nonsmokers and sex was less satisfying. The semen of nonsmokers was superior to that of smokers both in terms of sperm viability and longevity. The cost of seeking infertility treatments is up to $40,000 in the U.S. for those who smoke. It does not help if one of the couple is a nonsmoker because if they co-habit with a smoker, they smoke too. The cheapest and most efficient way of improving fertility difficulties is to quit smoking. (“Smoking harms sex lives, sperm quality,” HealthCentral -September 29, 1999)
In the book “Sex After 50,” Dr. Rosenthal states that nicotine constricts the peripheral blood vessels, cutting the blood supply to the penis and making it harder to get an erection. Smoking can cause impotence but few men are aware of the dangers. Teen smokers who can't kick the habit could be impotent by the time they reach their 30’s or 40’s. The damage also includes lowered sperm count, abnormal sperm shape and impaired sperm mobility. Just as cigarettes can damage the heart, every cigarette smoked reduces the volume of blood to the penis, and in many cases this damage cannot be reversed. (ASH.com - June 1999)
On men who are 40 to 70 years old, 52% will report some type of sexual dysfunction (minimal, moderate or severe) according to a Mass. male aging study. Until recently, thought to be a psychological condition. Masters and Johnson stated that 90% of erectile function was psychological and 10% physical. Now that is overturned and healthy blood flow is the key. Smoking has more of an immediate effect than anyone suspected, says Andre Guay, M.D., endocrinologist at Lahey Clinic. Each night each man usually has about 3 hours worth of erections, but there were almost none for smokers. Smokers are 7x more likely to be completely impotent according to the Mass. study. ( NOVA 1998 T.V. Special)
Smoking does to the blood vessels in the penis what it also does to those in the heart and brain - it clogs them, and nicotine constricts the blood vessels. Smoking decreases physical fitness and vitality so that smokers tend to be physiologically 8 years older than their chronological age. (ASH review, Jan./Feb. 1995)
Smoking does to the blood vessels in the penis what it does to those in the heart and brain - it clogs them. Nicotine also constricts blood vessels, and may interfere with the nervous system. (ASH, Jan./Feb. 1995)
Many of the things that are bad for the heart are bad for the sex life too.
Smoking - - both smoking and exposure to passive smoke, had twice the rate of
impotence of other men, and impotence might signal that coronary heart disease is
down the line.
(“Smoking increases impotence,” Reuters Health, HealthCentral.com - April 2000)