SEXUAL HEALTH
SMOKING AND SEXUAL HEALTH
Smoking can effect your sexual health and sexual performance.
Further for those with HIV, the impact of smoking can be extremely
detrimental. Check out the sections most relevant to you:
For more information on sexual health services in North East
London, check out SHO-ME, the Sexual Health Online site for
young people in North East London
- www.sho-me.nhs.uk
For Her
Birth Control
Women who smoke and use combined hormone methods of
contraception — the pill, the patch, and the ring — take very
serious health risks. The older the woman is and the more she
smokes, the greater the danger. In fact, women 35 and older who
smoke are 10 times more likely to have a heart attack than those
who don't smoke.
The Menstrual Cycle
Some evidence indicates that smoking can affect a woman's
menstrual cycle. Women who smoke may be more likely to have painful
and irregular periods, and menstrual pain seems to last longer for
smokers. When women quit smoking, they experience less menstrual
irregularity.
Cervical Cancer and Orgasm
Cigarette smoking increases the risk of cervical cancer, and
surgery for cervical cancer may interfere with orgasm.
Future Fertility
Most teen girls don't want to get pregnant now. But girls who smoke
when they're teenagers may be hurting their chances of getting
pregnant in the future. Some of the substances found in cigarettes
can harm the ovaries, and women who smoke or have smoked in the
past may have trouble getting pregnant. In fact, for smokers, the
chances of conceiving are decreased by 10 to 40 percent each
menstrual cycle, and the longer a woman smokes, the longer it will
take for her to get pregnant. Even light smoking can have an
impact. (But don't count on smoking to be a reliable method of
birth control!)
Pregnancy
Here's something else to keep in mind for the future: smoking
during pregnancy puts both the woman and her fetus at risk for
health problems. Not only does smoking increase the woman's risk
for serious complications during pregnancy and childbirth, but
smoking during pregnancy is the largest preventable cause of both
fetal and infant health risks and death. A woman who smokes may be
at increased risk for ectopic pregnancy — when a fertilized egg
implants somewhere outside of the uterus, usually in one of the
fallopian tubes. Surgery is often needed to remove the embryo and
possibly the damaged fallopian tube.
Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage. And
women who smoke are more likely to have low birth-weight babies,
who are less healthy and have an increased risk of death.
Stillbirth or the death of the newborn during the first four weeks
of life is also more common among women who smoke while
pregnant.
Research also suggests that secondhand smoke can damage the health
of a woman and the fetus, so having a partner who smokes is a
health risk.
For Him
Impotence
There is substantial evidence that links smoking with difficulty
getting or maintaining an erection. Although impotence is less
common in teen guys than in older men, studies show that smokers
are at least 50 percent more likely to become impotent than
non-smokers. According to British Medical Association (BMA) up to
120,000 UK men in their 30s and 40s are impotent as a direct
consequence of smoking. This figure is likely to be an
underestimate, because it does not include impotence due to
previous smoking in men who no longer smoke The many toxins in
cigarettes — especially carbon monoxide — can damage the
circulatory system, making it difficult for blood to reach the
penis, which is necessary for erection. When you smoke tobacco,
hydrocarbons are inhaled which damage the lining of arteries and
start forming plaques in their inner linings, reducing blood flow.
Nicotine constricts arteries to make them even narrower. When the
arteries leading to a man's penis are blocked, he becomes impotent.
Quitting smoking can reduce the risk for impotence.
Fertility
The toxins found in cigarettes can also affect the testes, where
sperm is produced. Smoking affects both semen and sperm, reducing
their quality and affecting sperm motility. Men who smoke also tend
to have lower sperm counts than non-smokers and have more malformed
sperm. This can make conception difficult and may also put a fetus
at risk of developing from genetic material that has been damaged
by smoking.
SMOKING AND HIV
WHY IS SMOKING MORE DANGEROUS FOR PEOPLE WITH
HIV?
In people with HIV, smoking can make it more difficult to fight
off serious infections. People are living longer with HIV disease.
Smoking and related problems can interfere with long term quality
of life.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS OF SMOKING?
Smoking weakens the immune system. It can make it harder to
fight off HIV-related infections. This is especially true for
infections related to the lungs. Having HIV increases the risk of
chronic lung disease.
Smoking can interfere with processing of medications by the
liver. It can also worsen liver problems like hepatitis.
Smoking and Side Effects
People with HIV who smoke are more likely to suffer
complications from HIV medication than those who don't.
Smoking increases the risk of some long-term side effects of HIV
disease and treatment. These include osteoporosis (weak bones that
can lead to fractures). HIV treatment slightly increases the risk
of heart attack, but smoking is the major controllable risk factor
for heart attacks or strokes.
Smoking and Opportunistic Infections
People with HIV disease who smoke are more likely to develop
several opportunistic infections related to HIV. They are more
likely to develop:
- thrush
- oral hairy leukoplakia (whitish mouth sores)
- bacterial pneumonia
- pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP)
THE BOTTOM LINE
For people already infected, smoking can reduce the immune
system's capabilities to fight infections.