Smoking alters hormones and chemicals in the body in a way that can inhibit sexual functioning, especially sexual responsiveness, and contributes to degeneration of the arteries and nerves that lead to the penis. Numerous studies on the connections between smoking and impotence have been done, especially over the past 10 years. A study at Boston University in 1991 found 78 percent of their male patients who smoked suffered from impotence. The Boston University study also found that cigarette smoking was associated with arteriosclerosis in the artery that supplies the penis with the blood flow that creates and maintains the erection. Another study at Queens University in Kingston, Canada, found that heavy smokers were twice as likely to be impotent as nonsmokers.
Depression frequently plays a role in cigarette smoking.
In 1990, it was found that people who are depressed are more likely to be smokers. Following that, in 1993, another study showed that a nicotine-dependent smoker is more susceptible to depression than someone who smokes only every now and then. Since depression can cause decreased sexual desire and there is a link between depression and smoking, this also supports cigarette smoking and sexual problems being connected to each other. In addition to impotence, smoking can cause negative effects on the reproductive process. Smoking should be avoided by couples who are struggling with infertility problems.