The Effects of Smoking on Fertility
Are you thinking about having children soon or sometime in the future?
If so, you might want to quit smoking now. Around 21% of women and 22% of men of reproductive age in the United States smoke cigarettes. While the risk of heart and lung diseases associated with cigarette smoking is well known, smoking can negatively affect conception chances and cause pregnancy complications as well.
Smoking and getting pregnant
Infertility rates in female and male smokers are about twice as high as non-smokers. The chemicals in cigarette smoke impact a woman's hormone production and increase the rate at which women lose their eggs. Once this happens, there's no way to restore the lost eggs. What's more, women who smoke start menopause (which is when few eggs remain, and age-related changes to the uterus reduce fertility) up to four years earlier than women who don't smoke. In men, cigarette smoking can lower the number of sperm produced and affect the sperm's ability to move, which are both important factors for fertility. In addition, many men who smoke have trouble getting erections, which can lead to erectile dysfunction. Any of these factors can reduce the chance of conception and increase the time it takes to conceive. Even for people who use assisted reproductive technology (ART), smoking negatively impacts outcomes, resulting in fewer births and more cycles of treatment.
Smoking and pregnancy
Smoking can cause harm at all stages of pregnancy. Cigarette smoking, and exposure to cigarette smoke as a non-smoker, damages the genetic makeup of both the sperm and the egg before pregnancy, as well as the fetus during pregnancy. Smoking increases the chance of miscarriages, babies born with low birth weights, and birth defects, such as Down syndrome and facial anomalies.
The good news is that quitting smoking will help reduce the rate of fertility complications associated with smoking. The longer you remain an ex-smoker, the more you reduce these risks. Quitting smoking is hard, there is no doubt about that, but there are many aids on the market to help you to quit. Talk to your health care provider about using smoking cessation prescription and non-prescription medications and their potential impact on a pregnancy.
If you or someone you care about wants to quit smoking, health care providers at the In-Store Clinics and MDLive are on hand to support you in your plans to be tobacco-free from cigarettes or other forms of tobacco. There are additional educational materials available in the Walgreens Answer Centers on walgreens.com to support you as well.
Published on October 21, 2019
Sources:
1. Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Smoking and infertility: a committee opinion. (2018) Fertil Steril.;110(4):611-618.
2. "Smoking and infertility," American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Web. 7 June 2019. https://www.reproductivefacts.org/globalassets/rf/news-and-publications/bookletsfact-sheets/english-fact-sheets-and-info-booklets/smoking_and_infertility_factsheet.pdf
3. "Smoking and reproduction," Centers for Disease Prevention and Control. Web. 7 June 2019. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/50th-anniversary/pdfs/fs_smoking_reproduction_508.pdf