Smoking And Fertility
Smoking and Infertility
Smoking has been scientifically proven to reduce chances of getting pregnant and is strongly linked to low fertility, which is why we recommend that you stop smoking if you are trying for a baby. It is estimated that smokers take roughly 3.4 times longer than non-smokers to conceive. Using DuoFertility may still be able to increase your chances of conceiving if you smoke, but we recommend that you seriously consider stopping smoking before trying to conceive.
A scientific study (by Dr John Cooper of the University of St. Louis) has examined the effects of the mutagenic and toxic components of tobacco. It found that smoking has a negative effect on the hormonal production of the ovaries, the production of eggs and ovulation?, and the activity of the Fallopian tubes?. It also affects the migration of the egg/embryo?, the fertilisation? and implantation? process in general and increases the risk of spontaneous abortions and foetal growth retardation. The success rate of IVF is also reduced in smokers. It is worth noting that all smoking-related fertility problems are also found in passive smokers i.e. non-smoking women who are regularly exposed to smokers. [collapse collapsed]
Scientific references (Click here)
Cigarette smoking and waiting time to pregnancy: results of a pilot study.
Medicina (Kaunas). 2007;43(12):959-63.
Zilaitiene B, Dirzauskas M, Preiksa RT, Matulevicius V.
Institute of Endocrinology, Kaunas University of Medicine, Eiveniu 2, 50009 Kaunas, Lithuania.
Waiting time to pregnancy is an important characteristic of human reproductive health, which has not been investigated in Lithuania until now. Data on waiting time to pregnancy have been collected from medical records of 111 women admitted to the Department of Obstetrics, Klaipeda Hospital. Seven women in whom pregnancy was the result of infertility treatment were excluded from the analysis, and the rest 104 cases were analyzed. We evaluated waiting time to pregnancy in respect to the age of couples, contraceptive use, cigarette smoking of both partners, and some other features of obstetric history. The mean waiting time to pregnancy in the cohort was 5.21+/-7.03 months. If both partners smoked, the mean waiting time to pregnancy was significantly longer than in nonsmoking couples (7.68+/-9.41 vs. 4.30+/-5.73, P<0.05). Risk to have waiting time to pregnancy longer than 6 months was significantly higher if both partners smoked as compared to nonsmoking couples (OR 3.32, 95% CI 1.07-10.30, P=0.03), while paternal smoking and smoking of any partner did not increase this risk significantly. The other possible factors - age, living place (rural or city), previous contraceptive use, regularity of menstrual cycle? , and frequency of intercourse - did not influence waiting time to pregnancy significantly. Results obtained from this pilot study enable us to plan and implement a larger-scale study of waiting time to pregnancy in Lithuanian population.
Maternal tobacco use and its preimplantation effects on fertility: more reasons to stop smoking.
Semin Reprod Med. 2008 Mar;26(2):204-12.
Cooper AR, Moley KH.
Fellow, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri.
There are numerous health concerns regarding tobacco smoke. Yet, only recently have researchers extensively explored the association between tobacco smoke and a woman's inability to conceive. Whether exposure occurs in utero, during pregnancy, or throughout the reproductive years, it can affect all facets of fertility and lead to diminished ovarian function and earlier menopause. This review analyzes the literature concerning the delay or absence of conception? in some women exposed to cigarette smoke and provides a detailed examination of the potential reproductive targets of the mutagenic and toxic components of tobacco. A negative influence on ovarian steroidogenesis and gametogenesis, oocyte? maturity, ovulation , oocyte cumulus complex pick-up, gamete and embryo transport by the oviduct, fertilization, and implantation could all play a role. Assisted reproductive technology, or more specifically, in vitro fertilization, has allowed us to more thoroughly analyze successful pregnancy cycles and the negative consequences of smoking. Objective measurements of tobacco compounds and their metabolites in follicular fluid correlate with subjective measures of ovarian, gamete, and embryo quality in smokers and in those exposed to passive smoke. Regardless, there is an abundance of literature accumulating and more than enough reasons to tell patients to stop smoking.
Smoking out the oestrogens. Click here to read Links
Hum Reprod. 1990 Apr;5(3):231-3.
Shulman A, Ellenbogen A, Maymon R, Bahary C.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology B, Meir General Hospital, Kfar Saba, Israel.
PIP: A tentative yet comprehensive review of the effects of smoking on reproductive capacity includes conception , sperm? morphology, teratogeny and intrauterine growth retardation, cancer, timing of menopause, estrogen secretion, in vitro fertilization and estrogen metabolism. Smokers are estimated to take 3.4 times as long as non-smokers to conceive, and are reported to be less fertile. Sperm atozoa are both abnormal morphologically and genetically compromised, in proportion to dose. Smokers have greater viremia in mumps and can get mumps orchitis. Smoking is said to cause impotence. Smoking increases risk of spontaneous abortion, intrauterine growth retardation and congenital abnormalities, in proportion to dose, starting with sidestream smoke. Smoke is directly toxic to the ova, and indirectly deleterious because it decreases estrogen secretion. Women smokers tend to the thinner, with lower estrogen levels, a factor in their lower success rates with in vitro fertilization. Smoking may speed up metabolic degradation of estrogen via the 2-hydroxylation pathway as well. Finally, smokers have earlier menopause, with accompanying osteoporosis and fractures..
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