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Erectile dysfunction and smoking
There are many reasons which lead to erectile dysfunction. Studies have revealed that smoking could also be considered as one of the factors which lead to dysfunction. In fact, smoking increases the risk of erectile dysfunction by around 50% for men in their 30s and 40s. Apart from smoking diabetes, high cholesterol levels and drugs that are used to treat high blood pressure are also important risk factors.
Both smoking and erectile dysfunction have often been associated -- individually -- with plaque build-up in the arteries, called atherosclerosis. The plaque obstructs blood flow through vessels, causing a host of circulatory problems throughout the body, such as erectile dysfunction.
During an erection, large quantities of blood flow, under pressure, into the penile arteries. This causes the veins which drain the penis to become compressed, so preventing the immediate outflow of blood. This process is significantly impaired by smoking.
A study looking at the impact smoking has on a man's ability to get an erection was reported today at the American Heart Association's annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention being held in Miami. In this study, researchers examined data on 4,764 Chinese men -- average age 47 -- who completed a health survey. Smoking history and quality of sexual relations were among the questions.
Among the other findings, the study revealed that:
- Men who smoked more than 20 cigarettes daily had a 60% higher risk of erectile dysfunction, compared to men who never smoked
- 15% of the past and present smokers had experienced erectile dysfunction.
- Men who currently - and formerly -- smoked were about 30% more likely to suffer from impotence
- Among men who had never smoked, 12% had erection problems.
The following could be some reasons which account for erectile dysfunction caused by smoking:
- 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
- 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
- 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