Researchers say men who smoke a pack of cigarettes or more a day are amost 40 percent more likely to have erectile dysfunction compared to nonsmokers.
“Smoking accelerates atherosclerosis and is a potent risk factor for heart disease. It just stands to reason that what harms blood vessels in one area of the body harms them in other areas, too,” said Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine.
This study, which was conducted by British and Australian researchers, and was reported in the March issue of Tobacco Control.
In the study, the researchers collected data on nearly 8,400 men aged 16 to 59 years who participated in the Australian Study of Health and Relationships.
Of these men, almost one in 10 said that he had had erectile problems lasting a month or more in the past year. More than 25 percent of the men smoked. One in five smoked a pack a day or less, and just over 6 percent smoked a pack a day or more, the researchers found.
The researchers discovered that, compared with nonsmokers, men who smoked one pack or less a day were 24 percent more likely to report difficulties maintaining an erection. Those who smoked more than a pack a day were 39 percent more likely to report erectile difficulties.
So butt out if you want to continue getting it up, now that is a good piece of relationship advice! Now if they would only come out with Nicorette gum in tart cherry flavour.