Harm from smoking
It's no secret that cigarette smoke leads to the development of many diseases and a deterioration in the general condition of the body. Most often, a person who smokes has a slower metabolism and oxygen starvation. As a result, the smoker suffers from constant headaches, weakness and many other ailments.
But the harm caused by cigarettes is not limited to the deterioration of the general condition of the body; it is possible that more serious diseases may develop, including lung cancer.
The effect of smoking on the male body
As already mentioned, cigarettes contain a large amount of harmful impurities. Therefore, smoking has a detrimental effect on men's health. But the reproductive system is at particular risk. Long-term smoking may result in problems such as:
- impotence;
- lack of erection;
- infertility.
Each of these disorders affects the sex life of men.
Impotence
According to statistics, more than 40% of men who smoke more than one pack of cigarettes per day experience problems with potency by the age of 35. A disease such as impotence is chronic and not always treatable. Smoking directly affects the reproductive system's ability to ejaculate. Under the influence of nicotine and tar, the production of sex hormones stops. As a result, there is no ability to express oneself as a full-fledged man.
Lack of erection
Smoking is a very bad habit that occurs due to the body’s addiction to nicotine. It is this substance that affects the human circulatory and reproductive system. Decreased hormone production and poor circulation lead to decreased erection. Such problems occur in almost all men who smoke, of any age. The sooner you quit smoking, the more likely it is to avoid impotence. Since, over time, the harmful effects of cigarettes are added to age-related changes, the genitals completely lose their functionality.
Infertility
Every man for whom smoking is the norm puts his reproductive function at great risk. The possibility of conception directly depends on the activity and number of sperm. In men, sperm renewal occurs every three months. Nicotine negatively affects the functioning of the sex glands. For this reason:
- sperm movement slows down;
- sperm quality deteriorates;
- the amount of male hormones decreases;
- the process of sperm renewal slows down or stops.
Based on the results of the studies, scientists proved that the sperm of 75% of smoking men were unable to fertilize an egg. A disease such as infertility, which is a consequence of smoking, can be reversed only by giving up the bad habit. Otherwise, the treatment will not have any effect.
Even if male sperm turns out to be active, the risk of developing pathologies in future offspring cannot be excluded. Most children born to fathers who are addicted to tobacco products are found to have: congenital heart disease, abnormalities in the development of body parts, lung problems, and cancer.
Narcologist - online consultations
ANSWERED: 10.27.2016 Kravtsov Alexander Vasilievich Khabarovsk
0.0 psychiatrist-narcologist
What are the ways to stop this? “It’s important for you and your boyfriend to understand that drug addiction is a disease. Specialists working in narcology have known this for a long time and accept it unconditionally. The severity of the disease is equal to cancer, as it has a huge mortality rate - 96% of patients die. Medicine does not yet know how to correct such metabolic features. That is, we cannot eliminate the biological factors that caused addiction. This means that today these diseases are incurable, since curing addiction means making a person able to drink alcohol or drugs without becoming dependent on it. However, you can achieve stable remission, quit drugs forever, and live happily. There are many positive examples. Treatment always implies freedom of choice. After all, it’s not you who need this, but him... What to do? Treatment of addiction is a complex and lengthy process, which is advisable to solve together with a specialist (narcologist, psychotherapist). The patient must be under the supervision of his doctor, who prescribes treatment, monitors his condition, evaluates the effectiveness, and adjusts the treatment if necessary. Not everyone can get out of this condition on their own... Treatment is carried out as follows: 1) First, detoxification is carried out - cleansing the body and relieving the symptoms of “withdrawal”. This should be done to relieve symptoms of intoxication, cleanse the body, improve metabolic processes, normalize the functioning of internal organs (brain, heart, liver, etc.) and restore performance. 2) Then, when this problem is solved, rehabilitation, restorative treatment and psychotherapy are carried out - this helps the person cope with internal conflicts and forever get rid of the desire to use drugs. 3) Social rehabilitation. The difficulty in curing a drug addict lies in the fact that, having successfully completed the course of treatment, he returns to his familiar environment, communicates with old friends, and after some time, behavioral reactions are restored, and the person begins to use drugs again. Social rehabilitation is most effective when there is a complete change of environment, moving to another city or another country, or when isolated in a relatively strictly structured society, for example, a rehabilitation center. Currently, there is no 100% effective way to prevent drug addiction relapse. Methods of social rehabilitation should be determined by the personal characteristics of the patient, and the effectiveness of these measures also depends on them.
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Consequences of smoking
Recently, warnings about the dangers of smoking have been placed not only on cigarette packs, but also on television, radio and advertising banners. Nevertheless, the population neglects this information, continuing to destroy their body by using tobacco. Only a small part of people think that smoking reduces life expectancy by an average of 13-15 years. In addition, a person ages prematurely and suffers from serious illnesses.
The male body experiences stress not only at the level of the reproductive system; the brain, heart, digestive organs and musculoskeletal system are damaged. It is very rare to see an athletic man smoking. Sports and cigarettes are incompatible things. Non-smoking men are active both in normal and sexual life and have healthy offspring.
Tobacco smoking is the most common and legalized drug addiction. Nicotine is an alkaloid that destroys the body. It quickly penetrates the blood and spreads throughout the body, damaging blood vessels and disrupting blood circulation. There is no organ that does not suffer from exposure to smoke. Speaking about the harm from smoking cigarettes for men, one cannot fail to note the various damage to the reproductive system. No less serious are those diseases that occur regardless of a person’s gender.
Changes in the male body
When considering the effects of smoking in men, it is necessary to emphasize that one of the most important aspects of health is the effect of cigarette smoke on the cardiovascular system. When inhaling, carbon monoxide entering the body combines with hemoglobin, leading to oxygen starvation. Due to lack of nutrition, cell death occurs. Nicotine provokes vasoconstriction, increasing the risk of early stroke and heart attack. Almost all experienced smokers experience arrhythmia.
The greatest impact falls on the respiratory system. Everyone knows that smoking leads to lung cancer, but other organs are also susceptible to cancer. In addition to tumors, various infectious and inflammatory diseases of the respiratory system are observed.
The disorders fully affect the nervous system - under the influence of nicotine, neurons die. The classic complaints of a smoker are chronic fatigue, overwork, memory impairment, concentration, and sleep.
The immune system is greatly affected. The body cannot realize its protective function in full.
Regardless of the sex of the smoker, the digestive system suffers. Toxins begin to penetrate the gastrointestinal tract the moment they enter the saliva - that is, from the first puff. Smoking is dangerous both on an empty stomach and immediately after eating. Inflammatory processes and changes in the concentration of hydrochloric acid lead to gastritis and ulcers.
Both passive and active smoking lead to serious consequences. The destructive effects of nicotine are especially harmful for a growing organism. Many serious diseases can develop as a result of exposure to tobacco smoke in a teenager. The most common ones include:
- lymphoma;
- middle ear diseases;
- chronic respiratory system diseases;
- pulmonary dysfunctions;
- asthma;
- leukemia
In adulthood, the following often occur:
- stroke;
- oncology of the nasal cavity, nasopharynx, upper respiratory tract, lungs;
- IHD;
- atherosclerosis;
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease;
- various pathologies of the reproductive system.
Carcinogens lead to diseases that would be difficult to associate with smoking. For example, the destructive effect on the liver in some cases results in cirrhosis. But this pathology is often attributed only to alcoholics and drug addicts.
Addiction leads to changes in cholesterol levels. Cholesterol comes in high and low density. When LDL levels are high, cholesterol plaques form on the walls of blood vessels, increasing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. HDL is good for the body, it fights low-density lipoproteins. Smoking and cholesterol are interrelated: the habit causes an increase in LDL levels and a decrease in HDL. These changes are directly related to the number of cigarettes smoked.
Impact on the psyche
Under the influence of marijuana, significant changes occur in the body, especially in the brain and psyche of the smoker. After weed, a euphoric state occurs, hallucinations, relaxation and loss of reality, problems are pushed aside and become insignificant. That is why smokers are increasingly starting to use marijuana in order to experience all of the above again.
Over time, various psychoses quietly develop, which are especially pronounced when the drug addict does not get the next “joint”.
Some experience uncontrollable attacks of aggression, hallucinations and panic attacks. The onset of such conditions is inevitable, because it has been scientifically proven that people who systematically smoke marijuana experience schizophrenia more than 5 times more often than others.
With the development of addiction to weed, gradual degradation of personality occurs. The smoker ceases to be interested in traditional human values such as family, love, career, etc. Gradually, marijuana ceases to meet the needs of the smoker, and after weed, he begins to search for harder drugs.
Effect on the reproductive system
The negative impact on the male reproductive system is due to several factors. This is the influence of toxic substances, as well as vasoconstriction, which leads to impaired circulation in the pelvic organs. The consequences can be sad for both the man and his partner.
One of the serious problems that smoking men, even young men, face is impotence. According to statistics, about 40% of the stronger sex who smoke a pack a day experience the disease by the age of 35.
Smoking affects the process of ejaculation, as the synthesis of sex hormones is disrupted, so future offspring are at risk.
Erectile dysfunction is another problem that occurs due to deterioration of blood circulation and blood flow to the penis. If you do not quit smoking, there is a possibility of complete loss of organ functionality.
The habit is also associated with other pathologies. Smoking and prostatitis, as well as prostate cancer and prostate adenoma, go hand in hand. These diseases are diagnosed in smokers 2 times more often. A direct connection has been established between the number of cigarettes smoked and the risk of inflammation. A man who has been diagnosed with prostatitis must immediately give up the habit, as it will slow down the healing process and will only worsen the situation.
The carcinogens contained in smoke not only cause harm, but lead to mutation of prostate cells. Toxic effects contribute to an increase in the size of the prostate - the likelihood of developing cancer and adenoma in a smoker increases with each puff.
Polydrug addiction
There is a myth that says that smoking weed is a safe hobby. This is absolutely not true. Systematic use of marijuana causes a persistent addiction in the smoker. Resistance to the drug gradually develops, which is why the addict no longer receives the same satisfaction from marijuana: he does not experience relaxation and euphoria. Such a situation pushes the addict to search for a stronger drug, and he does not even think about the consequences of such a replacement.
Of course, weed itself cannot force a smoker to switch to a stronger drug. Organic systems simply adapt to the constant supply of certain doses of marijuana and stop reacting to them with a state of drug intoxication. The drug addict lacks such a feeling, and he independently decides to try other sources of such pleasure after giving up weed.
According to statistics, 99% of drug addicts began by smoking marijuana, and then inevitably switched to polydrug addiction, or rather the use of more serious drugs.
Smoking at conception
How smoking affects the spermogram can be seen during the test. However, few smokers think about how their habit affects their ability to reproduce until they have to face the problem head on. The effect of smoking on the male body is direct, with infertility being an extreme case.
Smoking when planning pregnancy leads to the following effects of smoking on sperm:
- slowing down sperm movement;
- decrease in sperm quality indicators;
- decreased levels of male hormones;
- disruption of the sperm renewal process.
Carcinogens entering the body lead to the destruction of sperm, deterioration of their activity, and reduce the volume of ejaculate produced. As a result, the likelihood of fertilization of the egg decreases.
Even if the partner succeeds in becoming pregnant, teratogenic exposure to toxins and damaged sperm can lead to serious defects. It is even more dangerous if a woman smokes. Multiple pathologies of the fetus, relating to both external deformities and disturbances in the structure and functioning of internal organs, as well as delays in the development of the baby and grown-up child - all these are real consequences of smoking after conception. However, the female egg of a smoking woman is often not capable of maturation, so the likelihood of fertilization is reduced. A pregnant woman is not allowed to smoke under any circumstances.
However, it is somewhat easier for a man to mitigate the negative impact on seminal fluid. It takes 3 months for sperm to mature, so before you plan, you need to quit smoking.
Useful video
You can learn about the effects of smoking on men below:
Often representatives of the stronger half of humanity want to show off as a wealthy man by taking up smoking. The number of men who are addicted to tobacco in the world is simply amazing. A man who smokes not only harms himself, he also contributes to the passive smoking of the entire family. Scientists have proven that people who are near a smoker need to fear for their health. By harming oneself by smoking, a person harms the health of his entire family. Many habits that a person acquires in adolescence remain with him throughout his life, so smoking can be called a critical stage.
A man's body is much stronger than a woman's; in addition, it is susceptible to the same effects of tobacco. All components of a standard cigarette are harmful to human health. All of its parts: tars, toxins, carcinogens and unrefined nicotine are very harmful to life. In an experienced smoker who has a decent amount of experience, all organs are affected by tobacco smoke and not one of them works 100 percent correctly. A smoker cannot live a full life; he has many diseases that affect him. On average, a smoker's life expectancy is reduced by 15 years.
Mechanism of action of cannabis
The effect of this drug on the body aroused widespread interest in the middle of the 20th century, so many scientists have been conducting experiments for decades, studying tests, readings from special devices, in order today to warn beginners against such stupidity or to help addicts get out of the abyss.
When smoking weed under the influence of high temperatures, microscopic particles are released from it, which are absorbed in the lungs and enter the bloodstream. The main active ingredient, THC, enters the brain, and there all the “magic” of dope begins. THC gives a signal to increase the synthesis of dopamine (the hormone of happiness, joy, euphoria), but at the same time blocks the sites of its degradation, that is, destruction.
Thanks to the second effect, the hormone remains on the brain receptors for a long time, causing constant joyful excitement. The duration of this effect is short - a few hours. After them, the dopamine degradation sites are put back into operation, the hormone is destroyed, and the wave of happiness gradually subsides.
Over time, the receptor response to THC weakens, so in order to achieve that euphoric effect, you need more of it, which is often difficult to obtain from grass. Because of this, many smokers switch to “harder” drugs, allowing them to again experience the feeling of high.
