FERTILITY UPDATE: Smoking Proven to Significantly Harm Male Fertility

Over 1/3 of the world’s male population
smokes. Recent evidence published in the February issue of Fertility and Sterility, the official publication of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, documents alarming associations between cigarette smoking and male infertility. Smoking they determined is responsible for 1/3 of all causes of infertility.

What factors determine male fertility and how does smoking effect these factors?

Sperm motility, number, active count and chromosomal integrity (i.e. quality) are the most critical factors contributing to male fertility. Studies now show for the first time, a male who is past 35 years old begins to show “wear and tear” of sperm quality. (see previous article “male infertility”).

The recent study conducted from 1991-1997 analyzed sperm samples of men who smoked more than 1 cigarette a day, and discovered the following changes:

1. Decreased sperm density by 15.3%

2. Decreased sperm count by 17.5%

3. Decreased sperm motility and mobility by 16.6%

4. Decreased sperm production numbers by 17%

5. Altered shape and penetrability was also significantly altered.

WHY DOES SMOKING CAUSE THESE PROBLEMS?

Cigarette smoke is analogous to putting nuclear and chemical waste into your system. We’ve known that individuals who reside near environmental waste facilities from war torn countries or even living near nuclear reactors can cause chromosomal damage, and severe nutritional deficiencies.  Imagine putting this DNA-altering material into your lungs, which is what medical research is currently studying. Cigarette smoke causes changes to the DNA, causing cancers such as lung and breast. Now we have definitive correlation between DNA changes at the sperm level.

In addition to the chromosomal and mechanical complications smoking causes, there are some general changes that smoking causes that impairs fertility:

1. Nutritional Deficiency. Our bodies ability to perform self-maintenance is impaired when environmental toxins, including cigarette smoke, depletes our body of the necessary vitamins, minerals, and organic products we need. Combine smoke with a modern diet that is already deficient in these stores, and a vicious cycle is created.

2. Premature Aging. Free-radicals are cellular scavengers found in the body. (though they sound more like an extremist left-wing political group). As a natural by product of metabolism, they can accumulate, and like a pack of vultures, they begin to attack the body relentlessly. As with ultraviolet radiation, smoking merely accelerates the production of these biologic vultures.  For most of mankind, the most effective defense we had was nature’s pharmacy—good well balanced nutrition that gave us the tools we needed to battle free radicals. However, the nutritional deficits aggravated by smoke only compound with our poor diets to weaken our only defense against the aging process.

What can I do?

1.No rocket science involved: quit smoking!

2.Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition! Before penicillin, prozac, and “the purple pill” became household items, mankind relied on our own natural resources for health. In addition to adding more produce, fiber, and green tea to your diet, the American Medical Association as of June 19^th, 2002  now endorses mandatory  multivitamin supplementation. (see: www.jama.org). See “A physician’s guide to smart  supplementation”

3. Increase your daily physical activity. According to the American Medical Association, 60 minutes of physical activity (whether walking to the grocery store, gardening, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator) will have tremendous benefits for your overall health. 

Remember, implementing simple changes into your life may not only give you a better quality of life, but give your children--both born and unborn--a better chance for theirs as well. Isn’t that what all parents wish for?

Best of health and life to all!    Dr. Jason