Does smoking cause male infertility?
Smoking is one of the habits that is considered bad. This is because smoking a cigarette will likely give you a higher chance of getting a disease, especially lung illnesses. It is also the reason why many smokers have since tried smoking cessation with mix results. Inside a cigarette, there are many harmful substances that are bad for our health. For example, heavy substances such as lead and tar can go inside the lung and damage its walls, making it difficult for the lung to do their job. This is one example of how a lung disease can develop once we start smoking. However, not many of us know that a smoker might also have a higher chance of getting other diseases apart from lung disease. In this article, we will try to explain the common diseases that are usually associated with a smoker.
1. Lung damage
As mentioned above, smoking cigarettes can lead to lung damage. This was made possible by the entry of harmful substances like lead and tar into our lung, hence rupturing the lung’s wall structure. When our lungs are damaged, then there will be a lot of possibility that this condition will develop a lung disease such as asthma attack, bronchitis and also emphysema. However, the most common lung disease that a smoker usually gets is known as lung cancer. This is one of the most fearsome cancers in the world because it has killed so many lives before.
2. Heart disease
Apart from causing lung disease, smoking cigarettes can also be a reason for heart disease. As mentioned above, the harmful substances inside a cigarette can do some damage to the lung’s wall. Not just that, it is also known that these chemicals are able to damage the blood vessels. When the blood vessel is damaged, this will lead to the formation of a blood clot inside it, causing blockage inside the blood vessel. Due to this condition, our blood vessels will not be able to pump blood to the intended area such as the heart, causing the heart to be deprived of oxygenated blood. This is the reason why most smokers will get heart disease such as heart attack, stroke and also angina.
3. Fertility problem
Smoking can also cause fertility problems for both genders. In females, the toxic chemicals inside a cigarette will likely damage the reproductive system. Due to this effect, it will become harder for a female smoker to get pregnant. In male, it is known that smoking can give a higher risk of erectile dysfunction. This is usually caused by a poor sperm quality that is likely affected by the chemicals inside a cigarette.
4. Risk of pregnancy problems
If you are expected to be a mother soon, then it might be a good idea to stop smoking. This is because it is found out that smoking might be the reason why a child is born with structural defects. Besides, there are many other risks of pregnancy problems that can occur if a mother smokes such as ectopic pregnancy, preterm delivery, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and many other diseases.
5. Poor immune system
Due to the harmful cigarette content, it is known that smoking cigarettes can cause a person to have a poor immune system. This can be quite problematic since the person will be more susceptible to infection and other diseases. This is even more significant nowadays because the whole world is struggling with Covid-19 infection, thus making smokers more susceptible to this virus. It is also the reason why there is a high number of smokers among Covid-19 cases.