Introduction to the problem
Smoking is a bad habit injurious to the health of the smoker. It is also harmful for all those who are passive smokers as they are forced to inhale many of more than 4000 carcinogens that are found in the smoke exhaled by a smoker. But in this article we shall remain confined to the effects of smoking on the female who is preparing for pregnancy and to some extent on
the pregnant lady. Dangers of smoking have been well delineated in health magazines and scientific journals but there is still string need to make more and more people aware of the risks of smoking especially women who are preparing for pregnancy.
Smoking: women’s health
Smoking is one habit that has been criticized and derided by one and all as it has been proved beyond doubt that smoking causes many different types of cancers and ailments of lungs. Smoking is equally bad for men and women and it harms and kills both of them. But women smokers are at a greater risk of developing various diseases such as premature menopause, female infertility, cervical cancer, osteoporosis, and heart disease.
Smoking is bad for the lungs and heart of a female smoker but it also damages her reproductive system. There have been studies linking cigarette smoking to early menopause. Smoking leads to depletion of oocytes from the ovarian pool that is premature. This aging of ovary makes a woman infertile. Thus smoking increases infertility risks because this habit is inextricably linked with trouble to conceive.
Cigarettes per day and infertility
It has been observed that women smoking more than 10 cigarettes per day are much more likely to experience infertility than nonsmokers. The lower number of cigarettes does not mean that there are no problems in conception but only that these problems are not as clearly co-related to smoking as when the number goes beyond 10. Heavy smoking in females leads to blockage of fallopian tubes which does not allow the male sperms to meet female eggs. There are also cervical changes that interfere with the process of fertilization. Thus it is clear that smoking leads to lowered fertility. Smoking in females is liked with the risk of developing ovarian and cervical cancers both of which hamper with conception. Smoking is one of many infertility risk factors. Long term smoking regularly does cause damage to the conception ability of females.
If you want to protect your fertility, do not smoke
Smoking is a habit that causes only problems for the smoker. For smokers, whether men or women, smoking causes changes in the reproduction system that leads to infertility. Despite smoking men and women becoming parents, it is clear that smoking hampers the ability to conceive in the case of women. In the case of men, it damages their sperm, so they find it difficult to fertilize female eggs. Long-term smoking causes changes in the quality of sperm, and they are damaged in such a way they are less likely to fertilize female eggs. A smoker’s sperm is less fertile than a nonsmoker’s sperm. Infertility and smoking go hand in hand. Also, there are some risks for fetal development because of so-called secondhand smoking.
Side effects of smoking cigarettes
Smoking is a habit that is mainly taken up to experience the high associated with the consumption of nicotine. No smoker thinks about the harmful side effects and dangers of smoking when he starts this habit. The inability to conceive is one of the side effects of smoking that very few women think about when they start smoking. However, infertility is one of the risks of smoking that has devastated many women in the past. By the way, many specialists say that a smoking woman may meet with a so-called SVT attack symptom. It is a clear warning signal to females preparing for pregnancy that they must give up on this habit before planning to conceive.
Why smoking is harmful is not difficult to fathom
A smoker’s analysis of smoke exhaled contains more than 4000 harmful chemicals. These chemicals also contain carcinogens that can affect the lungs of small children and other adults who happen to be nearby. But the most harmful effects of smoking are experienced by the smoker himself as shortness of breath, ailments of the lungs, and finally, cancer await someone who is a heavy smoker. However, smoking has more pronounced and harmful effects for women smokers as they experience cervical cancers, ovarian cancers, and infertility.
Need to create awareness about the health hazards of smoking
Most people are by now aware of the harmful and dangerous effects of smoking. Despite this, the trend of smoking is seen on an increase in teenagers, especially girls, which has a grave medical problem for generations to come. Smoking among women leads to infertility and problems during childbirth because of changes in reproductive systems. There is a need to create awareness among little girls about the dangers of smoking to let them have a better tomorrow and the ability to conceive, which is their natural right.
Final word
We strongly recommend that you read Allen Carr’s book The Easy Way to Stop Smoking. It is a simple and easy-to-read bestseller, only 90 pages long. We guarantee that you will stop smoking the next day after you finish. Why so? Because we have done it in the past, and we have succeeded!
