Scenes of a hero tossing a cigarette in the air, before lighting it by rubbing a matchstick against the villain’s head are common 
place. This Bollywood fantasy catches the fancy of millions and if you are among them think twice. Your sex life will receive the same fate as the villains.
Pack of cigarettes, close-upDr John Spangler’s study at Wake Forest University Baptists Medical Centre established that people who smoke are 26 times more likely to have erectile dysfunction. Smokers in their 30s and 40s have an increased risk.
When tobacco is burnt, it produces about 400 toxins. The most notorious among them are tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide of which nicotine is addictive.
Erection can occur only when there is adequate blood flow to the penis which requires healthy blood vessels. A network of blood vessels keeps all our organs functional by supplying them with nourishment and oxygen. These blood vessels are lined with endothelium, which is the seat of many chemical reactions that ultimately determine the amount of blood flowing to the organs. When this is damaged, it cannot relax and allow sufficient blood flow. The damaged endothelium is more prone to develop plaque and clots thus narrowing the lumen of the blood vessels. Nicotine also hardens the arteries.
This injurious endothelial damaging process responsible for erection problems can also damage the coronary arteries. The effect of this insufficient blood supply will be first felt in the penis before the dysfunctional heart starts showing symptoms. In others words erectile dysfunction has become a predictor of future heart problems.
Smoking affects a woman’s sexual health too. By narrowing the blood vessels in the vagina it adversely affects adequate lubrication, making sex painful. Again, by reducing blood flow to the clitoris, its engorgement is affected and consequently a woman’s ability to reach orgasm is jeopardised.
So think twice before you light the next cigarette. Your sex life may go up in smoke.
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