If you and your partner are having trouble conceiving a child then smoking could be to blame. Smoking not only affects your general health it also affectsВ male fertility.
Smoking causes damage to the sperm in numerous ways, itВ causes a lowered sperm count, causes poor sperm morphology - the "look" of the sperm, decreases sperm motilityВ and smoking can also cause impotence. Not only that, but mothers who are smokers are more likely to produce a male child who will himself have problems becoming a father in later life. Across the world the average sperm count is lower than it has ever been and smoking is believed to be the reason.
Specifically speaking, theВ sperm count of men who areВ smokers can be as much as 15% below men who do not smoke. With the averageВ sperm count being anywhere between 50 million and 150 million per millilitre this could mean a reduction inВ theВ number of sperm to below 20 million per millilitre. This lowered sperm count can be due to insufficient levels of vitamin B12, vitamin E and zinc. This is likely to be becauseВ smoking inhibits the absorption of vitamins and minerals and it can also disrupt the balance of hormones in a smokers body.
The ability of the sperm to travel forward through the vagina and cervix to reach the egg and achieve fertilisation is known as sperm mobility.В The sperm have to be able to move in the right direction and at a speed that isВ quick enough to reach the egg. An average sperm mobility is when at least half ofВ of the sperm are moving correctly. Smoking is known to reduce sperm mobility meaning less sperm are able to reach the ovum.
An erection is acheived when the blood in the penisВ creates pressure in the muscles,В making it expand. If somethingВ interferes with that blood flow it has the potential to cause impotence. It is a known fact that smoking causes the break down of the blood vessels that carry blood to the penis. Unless blood is able toВ flow freely into the penis an erection cannot be maintained. It is thereforeВ highly important that these blood vessels are in anВ extremely healthy condition. Smoking can close up these arteries that lead to the penis and therefore reduce the blood pressure necessary, and obviously if an erection is not possible then conception cannot occur.