Introduction

There is a lot of effort put into making smoking appear sexy by the tobacco industry. It has long been a strategy for tobacco companies to increase their appeal to the general public by using sexual themes in their advertising.

However, tobacco companies face an uphill battle with reality. In addition to being far from sexy, smoking can have a significant negative impact on a person’s sexual life. Decrease in libido, infertility, and erectile dysfunction, are the impacts caused by smoking.

How Smoking Can Cause Erectile Dysfunction

As a result of smoking cigarettes, cigars, or pipe tobacco regularly, your blood vessels can become damaged, resulting in a reduction of arterial blood flow throughout your body. Nicotine is the main culprit, since it is known to be a vasoconstrictor (a chemical that reduces blood flow throughout the body).

In response to sexual aroused feelings, your brain sends a signal to nerves in the penis. A lack of blood flow through the arteries of the penis can seriously harm your sexual performance, as erections depend on a combination of signals from your brain.

When you feel sexually aroused, your brain sends a signal to nerves in the penis. It causes the arteries to open, which increases blood flow to the corpus cavernous(the spongy tissue in the penis that hardens and fills with blood to form an erection).

As a result of smoking, blood circulation is damaged in many ways, resulting in a host of health problems such as heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, etc. You can also add erectile dysfunction to the list.

It is only possible to have an erection when the blood vessels in the penis enlarge and fill with blood. Due to the disruption of blood vessels in that part of the body, the action can’t always happen. It has been found that men as young as 20 can suffer from erectile dysfunction as a result of smoking.

Smoking and your blood vessels

The health risks associated with smoking are numerous. There are a number of parts of your body that can be damaged by smoking cigarettes. Cigarette smoke contains chemicals that damage the lining of your blood vessels and affect their function. Other body tissues, such as the heart, brain, and kidneys, can also be damaged by these chemicals.

As a result of cigarette chemicals’ effects on the blood vessels in the penis, smoking can harm your erectile health. After receiving signals from nerves within the penis, the arteries in the penis expand and fill with blood, resulting in an erection. As a result of sexual arousal signals sent from the brain, the nerves respond. Physically, an erection might not be possible even if the nervous system is functioning properly if the blood vessels are unhealthy due to smoking.

What does the research show?

Men are more likely to develop ED as they get older, but it can occur at any age. Men who smoke are more likely to develop ED than those who never smoked, according to a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2005. Cigarette smoking, however, is very likely to be the cause of ED in younger men.

Research your smoking habits if you are a heavy smoker, there is a much higher risk of developing ED. The symptoms of ED can, however, be improved by quitting smoking. A number of factors may affect your ability to return to healthy erectile function, including your age, the severity of your ED before you quit smoking, and other major health problems.

How to get help?

Your chances of finding a solution to ED increase the sooner you address it.

In the absence of a primary care physician, schedule an appointment with a urologist or men’s health specialist. ED is a very common health problem. Quitting smoking may be recommended to you as one of the things you should do.

You shouldn’t assume that quitting smoking is impossible if you’ve tried to quit before. Take a completely different approach this time.

• Make a list of your reasons for wanting to quit and the reasons why you have not been successful in quitting before.
• Keep an eye on what triggers your smoking behavior, such as drinking alcohol or coffee.
• Family and friends can be a great source of support. When it comes to overcoming a powerful addiction, such as smoking, it’s OK to admit that you need help.
• Over the counter medicines that are made to quit smoking must be discussed and prescribed with the doctor.
• Get new hobbies such as exercise and physical activities that involves hand and mind. This will cause distraction from smoking habit.
• Always be ready for craving and setbacks. You could get back on tract and also be successful even if you slip up and have a cigarette.

Overview

In addition to physical and psychological factors, erectile dysfunction (ED) is also known as impotence. Cigarette smoking is one of them. ED is often caused by a lack of arterial blood supply to the penis, which makes sense since smoking can damage your blood vessels. Fortunately, quitting smoking improves your vascular and sexual health, as well as your performance in these areas.

REFERENCES:

• https://www.webmd.com/erectile-dysfunction/news/20030307/smoking-can-lead-to-erectile-dysfunction
• https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/harmful-effects-tobacco/3-ways-tobacco-use-impacts-your-sex-life
• https://www.forhims.com/blog/smoking-and-erectile-dysfunction
• https://time.com/4408977/erectile-dysfunction-quit-smoking/
• https://www.healthline.com/health/erectile-dysfunction/impotence-and-smoking

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