Can smoking cause Erectile Dysfunction?
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is defined as the absence of an erection, or an erection that is insufficient to achieve sexual intercourse. This disorder may be a complex problem, and its treatment may be different individual in each patient. This article addresses one of the key triggers that may attribute to erectile dysfunction – smoking. Let’s dig out, Can smoking cause erectile dysfunction?
What does the research say?
Numerous studies have confirmed that the likelihood of erectile dysfunction is proportional to the years of smoking and the number of cigarettes smoked per day.
Most noteworthy, smokers as young as 40 are three times more likely to have erectile dysfunction than non-smokers of the same age.
The good news is by quitting smoking your general health, including erectile function will result in dramatic improvement over time.
How does smoking affect erections?
It is well-known that smoking adversely affects your health in many ways, primarily due to the nicotine and chemicals contained in cigarettes. Smoking’s impact on your erectile health is primarily due to reduced vascular performance in other words damage to blood vessels.
Blood supply is the key element in achieving a healthy erection. The penis has chambers called Corpora Cavernosa and when sexually aroused blood is delivered to these chambers from the arteries supplying the penis.
Unfortunately, smoking impairs blood supply and your arteries, causing a natural flow-on effect that can severely harm your ability to achieve an erection.
An inadequate supply of blood to the penis can also be due to other health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, or high cholesterol. Erectile dysfunction could be a warning sign for several health issues whether you are a smoker or not. This symptom should not be treated lightly, it is important to seek medical advice if you are experiencing ED.
If you are a smoker the best course of action is to give up smoking.
Do you need help with stopping smoking?
Today there are many tools at our disposal that assist with kicking the habit. What works for one may not work for another and it may take several attempts before success. The following are just a few tried and proven solutions;
- Nicotine patches, inhalers or gum (nicotine replacement therapy)
- Medications such as Champix
- Acupuncture
- Vaping
- Phone Counselling
- Cold Turkey
- Books check out Allen Carr
The benefits of quitting smoking
There are no surprises here! Stopping smoking will not only help your general health but it in most cases will have a positive effect on your erections. The following benefits should inspire you to make the decision.
- Superior health
- Improved erections
- Save money
- Decreased odor
- Improved dental hygiene
- Reduced social pressures
- Less anxiety
- Impact on others
- Better sex life
What’s the next step?
Quitting smoking is not easy but the benefits far exceed any difficulty you may experience. Today smokers are treated as social lepers, there are increasingly fewer and fewer places to enjoy a sneaky fag.
Are you tired of feeling the discrimination associated with your dirty habit? Whether it’s a deal-breaker attracting the perfect mate or frowned upon in the workplace. Or those times when you’re not in the moment because all you are thinking about is the next cigarette? Allen Carr perfectly describes this when attending his own daughter’s wedding, his thoughts were solely on his next smoke.
Free yourself, set a date to stop smoking, success will be one of your proudest moments.
Make your decision today! Talk to your doctor.