Smoking
and Your Fertility
Smoking Has a Negative Effect On the Ability of a
Couple to Conceive
Today,
the health risks of both tobacco smoking and breathing in second hand smoke are
well known. We know the effects of smoking on the heart, lungs, and blood
vessels. However, though the medical profession has been aware of the substantial
effects of smoking on fertility, the public seems to be in the dark on this
issue. It's time to spread the word that smoking has a negative effect on the
ability of a couple to conceive and to carry a pregnancy to term.
All
of the scientific research to date supports the fact that smoking has an
adverse effect on fertility. The rate of infertility among smokers is higher.
Those smokers who do conceive take much longer to do so. The fact is that
active smoking by either partner has this effect, and the effect is not much
lessened when the exposure to smoke is 'only' second hand.
Smoking
Damages a Woman's Ovaries
There
is an indication that smoking damages a woman's ovaries. Just how much damage
is incurred depends on the length of time a woman has been smoking as much as
how many cigarettes a day she smokes. It seems that smoking accelerates both
the loss of eggs and reproductive function. It becomes more and more clear that
smoking also brings on the onset of menopause much sooner; by several years, in
fact. Chemicals in tobacco smoke have been proven to interfere with the ability
to manufacture estrogen and can predispose a woman's eggs to genetic
abnormalities.
Spontaneous
miscarriage and ectopic pregnancies occur with greater frequency among smokers.
Smokers require two times the attempts at in vitro fertilization (IVF) than
nonsmokers and require higher doses of gonadotropins to stimulate their
ovaries. They also have lower peak estradiol levels, fewer eggs obtained, and
more canceled cycles. The adverse impact of cigarette smoking is seen to be
greater in older women. It's possible that assisted reproduction may not be
able to counteract the negative effects on smoking on reproduction.
Men
who smoke have a lower sperm count and the sperm they produce has less
motility, and a greater incidence of abnormalities of shape and function.
One
important study showed that quitting smoking for two months prior to attempts
at IVF greatly improved the chances of conception. Long-term smoking can have a
lasting effect on female reproductive function, but the adverse impact of
smoking on fertility therapy may be reversed by having the couple stop smoking
prior to treatment.
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