Post Date December, 03 2023
It is well known that smoking is harmful to health, but it also causes erectile dysfunction (ED), which is not well known.
At present, numerous studies have confirmed that the proportion of smokers in ED patients is significantly higher than that of normal people at the same age. The more smoke you smoke, the higher the proportion of ED. Modern medicine believes that smoking induces ED mainly through the following two ways:
1、 Acute damage
Some experimental studies have found that smoking in large quantities in adult male dogs can stimulate the cavernous nerves of the penis, resulting in the inability to erect, and the blood flow of the penis is also significantly lower than the level before smoking. According to the research, the acute damage to erectile function caused by this large amount of smoking is mainly caused by nicotine directly stimulating the sympathetic nerve in the human body, producing a lot of adrenaline and norepinephrine, which will make the smooth muscle in the penis sponge contract, causing the penis to be unable to congest, and then ED will follow.
2、 Chronic injury
This refers to the damage to erectile function caused by long-term smoking, which occurs slowly and imperceptibly, and eventually develops to ED. Chronic injury mainly involves three aspects:
(1) Impact on the blood supply of the penis: After long-term smoking, the arteries that supply the blood of the penis, especially the directly related internal pudendal artery and cavernous artery of the penis, will harden and narrow, which can significantly reduce the amount of blood supply to the penis. Without blood source, the penis will not be able to erect. Other studies have confirmed that smoking causes the decrease of blood supply to the penis, which is mainly manifested by the decrease of the systolic pressure of the penis artery, the decrease of blood flow velocity in the artery during erection, and the decrease of the rigidity of erection.
(2) Impact on penile nerve control: As mentioned above, long-term smoking will also stimulate sympathetic nerve, produce too much adrenaline and norepinephrine, resulting in ED. Modern medicine has clarified that penis erection requires neurotransmitters released from nerve endings to play a role in relaxing the smooth muscle of the cavernous body of the penis and congestion of the penis. Among many neurotransmitters, a neurotransmitter called nitric oxide (NO) has the greatest effect on promoting penis erection. Some studies have confirmed that after long-term smoking, the content of NO in the penis sponge will be significantly reduced, leading to ED.
(3) Effect on the level of sex hormone required to ensure penis erection: The experiment found that the level of testosterone in rats decreased after long-term inhalation of cigarette smoke. Studies have confirmed that the main reason for the decrease of testosterone is that the toxic substances in cigarettes destroy the interstitial cells in the testes that specifically produce testosterone. Once testosterone is lacking, the penis erection lacks the driving force.
