Smoking is injurious to health - we see this disclaimer just about everywhere. While this disclaimer is true, very few people realize that smoking doesn't just affect physical and mental health but reproductive health as well. In fact, smoking increases the risk of infertility for both females and males. Those who smoke find it hard to get pregnant as it damages the blood vessels in the penis, decreases sperm count, and damages sperm quality. It may also cause erectile dysfunction in males. Furthermore, it can also lead to pregnancy loss, sudden infant death syndrome, premature birth and low birth in females. But this is just a glimpse of the relationship between smoking and infertility.
In this blog, we discuss the relationship between smoking and infertility, some common causes of infertility in men and women, and the impacts of smoking on conceiving. Additionally, we shall also discuss the overall benefits of quitting smoking and tips to increase the chances of getting pregnant.
Before we discuss the relationship between smoking and infertility, let's first understand what infertility is. So, what is infertility? In layperson's terms, infertility is a condition where a person has difficulty conceiving a child after a year or more of having unprotected sex. This condition can affect both men and women, as infertility often involves the influence of hormones, reproductive organs and other factors.
The cause of infertility for women can be primarily associated with ovulation, fallopian tube damage, or problems with the uterus. Likewise, the cause of infertility for men is typically associated with low sperm count, low sperm motility, and blockages in the reproductive tract. Of course, there are also many other factors that cause infertility, some of which still remain unexplained.
From our above definition, you may already have a good idea regarding some of the core causes of infertility. Regardless, the following are some of the core causes of infertility for both men and women.
Men have many causes of infertility. While some of these common causes are associated with sperm, some are not. The key common causes of infertility for men include:
The causes of infertility for women vary depending on the specific circumstances. Some of the common causes include:
Along with these physical factors, unhealthy habits like smoking can also lead to infertility in both men and women since they degrade physical health and cause imbalances in hormones.
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As mentioned previously, smoking messes with the hormonal balance of the females, which can lead to issues with fertility. But along with this, smoking causes infertility in various other ways. Some of the key ways in which smoking affects women's fertility and eggs include:
Smoking can lead to menopause occurring 1 to 4 years earlier than it would in non-smokers. The chemicals in cigarette smoke accelerate the loss of eggs from the ovaries. Since females are born with a finite number of eggs, this accelerated loss leads to a depletion of the ovarian reserve at a younger age, resulting in earlier menopause.
Smoking introduces harmful chemicals into the body, which can cause damage to existing eggs. Once the eggs are damaged by these toxins, they cannot be repaired or replaced, leading to lower fertility.
The process of egg maturation involves many stages, from the recruitment of eggs in the ovaries to their development and readiness for ovulation. Smoking interferes with this maturation process, which leads to eggs that are less likely to be mature or fit for fertilization.
These are just some of the direct associations between smoking and fertility/eggs. Besides these direct associations, smoking lowers the immune system, which can further hamper the eggs and development of the baby, contributing to lower fertility.
Learn more about: Egg Freezing in Nepal
It is not just the females whose fertility is affected by smoking, as smoking causes male fertility in various ways as well. Some of the key ways in which smoking affects men's fertility and sperm are:
One of the key ways how smoking can lead to lower fertility is by lowering the sperm count. A lower sperm count automatically means there is low sperm per ejaculation. This further leads to lower chances of fertilization, which further leads to a higher infertility rate for men.
Another key way how smoking affects men's fertility is by reducing the quality of sperm in men. The chemicals in sperm often result in abnormally shaped sperm, which is not highly capable of fertilizing the egg. This further leads to the effectiveness of sperm, resulting in low fertility for men.
Along with sperm count and quality, sperm also affects the ability of sperm to swim. A sperm that cannot swim well naturally cannot reach the egg of the female. The chemicals in the cigarette reduce the motility of sperm, reducing the chances of sperm reaching its goal, resulting in lower fertility.
The effect of smoking on sperm is not just limited to the motility, quality, and number of sperm either. Smoking regularly can also result in damage to the DNA of sperm cells. This can affect the development and increase the effect of genetic disorders in the child. While this is not strictly related to fertility, it does mean that if treatments such as PGT are performed, many sperm would be disqualified, resulting in a lower number of healthy sperm for fertilization.
The effect of smoking is not limited to what happens after the ejaculation either. Smoking can even lead to ejaculation being hard or not possible as well. Smoking can lead to erectile dysfunction, which prevents the act of sexual intercourse itself. For those unaware, erectile dysfunction is a medical condition where males find it hard to have an erection. If there is no erection, there is no intercourse, resulting in a lower fertility rate for males.
These are some of the common ways in which smoking affects men's fertility and sperm. Besides the ones we mentioned here, there are many other ways in which smoking affects a male's fertility, depending on the specifics of the circumstances.
Learn more about: Why and When to Consider Freezing Your Sperm.
Now that you have a general grasp of the key reasons for how smoking affects egg, sperm, and fertility in general, let's talk about how it affects conception. It affects the chances of conceiving for both men and women in different ways. Some of the key ways include:
The main effects of smoking on conceiving in women have to do with ovulation, egg quality, and premature aging. These effects occur in the following ways:
The impacts of smoking on men for conception are essentially the same as the ones for fertility since men have less to do with the implantation of the fertilized. Regardless, some of the key impacts of smoking on men for conceptions include:
Needless to say, smoking in general is not a good habit. In addition to affecting your fertility, it negatively affects your other health aspects. As such, there are numerous benefits of quitting smoking. Some of the key benefits include:
These are just some of the key benefits of quitting smoking. The key to note here is that not only does smoking affect reproductive health, but overall health negatively as well. Quitting smoking is, therefore, one of the finest decisions you could make.
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Last but not least, let's now talk about a few tips you can use to increase your conceiving chances. Before providing you with the tips, we do have to notify you that these are just some general tips and may not work for you depending on your circumstances. Therefore, we have to put in a disclaimer before we begin to consult our reproductive doctor before implementing any of our following tips. Now, with that cleared, let's talk about some tips to increase your chances of getting pregnant.
Smoking is a negative habit that has been more or less normalized in modern days. However, despite this habit being somewhat normal, it is far from a healthy habit. Smoking not only contributes to lung cancer and other regular health issues, but it also impacts reproductive health by damaging eggs and sperm, messing up with your hormones, and affecting the chances of being pregnant.
In this blog, we discussed what infertility is, the common causes of infertility in both men and women, how smoking affects infertility in men and women, the overall effects of smoking on conceiving, and the overall benefits of quitting smoking. We also shared some quick tips on improving the chances of getting pregnant. We hope you found this helpful. If you have further insights into the various aspects of infertility, do check out some of our other blogs. And if you want the best infertility treatment in Nepal, look no further than Hardik IVF and Fertility Center, a leading IVF center in Nepal. Thank you for reading till the end.
Yes, smoking can cause infertility. There are many ways in which smoking can cause infertility, and they vary depending on whether the person has male biological parts or female. But a general answer for this is that it degrades the quality of eggs and sperm while messing up the hormonal balance of the body.
Yes, quitting smoking can improve fertility as quitting smoking prevents any further damage from occurring to the reproductive area. While it cannot regenerate the damaged eggs, quitting smoking can restore normal hormonal functions. That said, you do have to note that it takes some time for this restoration to occur.
Smoking causes accelerated menopause, which lowers the maximum fertility age of women while causing egg damage, impaired egg maturation, and hormonal imbalance. These factors in combination affected the overall fertility of females adversely.
There are different ways of enhancing chances of getting pregnant, which include:
There are many factors that can cause infertility in women. Some of these factors include:
Yes, smoking does indeed kill sperm count. Along with this, sperm also damages their shape and lowers their ability to swim in the uterus. This trifecta of effect on the sperm of smoking drastically lowers male fertility.
There are many factors that can cause male infertility. Some of the key factors include:
The specific method to improve male fertility depends on your circumstances. However, some general methods to do this include:
These are serious adverse effects you may need to experience if you smoke during pregnancy. Some of the related risks are as follows:
Yes, smoking during pregnancy affects the baby. The harmful chemicals, like nicotine and carbon monoxide, pass through the placenta and reach the fetus directly. Among the primary ways in which smoking affects the baby include: