Smoking and Impotence

Besides affecting the blood vessels that supply the penis with blood, smoking can also damage the mechanism that helps the blood stay there and maintain the erection.

The evidence linking smoking to erection problems is strong. Men who smoke more than 20 a day for more than five years, have a higher risk of erectile dysfunction. Called ED for short, this term covers a range of problems - from occasional difficulties with getting, or keeping, an erection to being unable to have one at all.

But the bad news is that research suggests there's no guarantee that quitting reverses erectile dysfunction.

In some men it may help, but this is less likely if there are also other factors involved such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes which also contribute to erectile dysfunction, that's why it makes sense not to smoke in the first place.

In Canada this message is spelt out with crystal clarity on cigarette packets. "Tobacco use can make you impotent," declares the health warning alongside a picture of a drooping cigarette. "Cigarettes may cause sexual impotence due to decreased blood flow to the penis. This can prevent you from having an erection," it continues. A similar message is among the health warnings available for use on cigarette packets in the European Union, as well as in other countries, including Thailand, which has carried health warnings linking tobacco and ED since 1998.

Smoking damages blood vessel walls, contributing to the build up of fatty deposits in the arteries, it makes blood stickier, increasing the risk of clots. It also ups the risk of high blood pressure and this is a double whammy: not only does hypertension itself harm blood vessels, but medication to reduce it can affect erections too.

ED isn't rare - it affects about a third of men over the age of 50, a rate which rises with each decade of age. Would these figures be lower if more men didn't smoke, but reduced weight and got more exercise? But regardless of the cause of erectile dysfunction, the longer it goes on, the harder it is to reverse it.

Learn More About Male Impotence.