Smoking is a commonly known to cause lung cancer & cardiovascular disease, but did you know how closely its linked with numerous urological issues?

Tobacco ingredients release thousands of harmful chemicals, which constrict your blood vessels and negatively affect every cell, system, organ and increase the risk of variety of complications in your body. Over time, these chemicals and toxins collect in the urine and create a variety of urological health problems.

E-cigarettes, hookas, and second-hand smoke can also significantly damage your health. Smoking is a lifestyle choice and often they underestimate the health risk that is caused by tobacco.

Here are a few urological conditions impacted by smoking :

• Erectile Dysfunction: Erectile Dysfunction is a condition in which a man finds it difficult to keep a firm erection of penis. Erectile function is a vascular process & nicotine interferes with the blood flow to the penis disrupting the process responsible for its erection.
• Bladder Cancer: Smoking results in accumulation of harmful chemicals, nearly 60 different types of carcinogens, in the body. These can cause pain during urination. Bladder cancer begins in the cells of the bladder where these harmful chemicals affect the lining of cells inside of your bladder that start blood clotting in the urine. Men are 3 to 4 times more prone to bladder cancer than women..
• Kidney Cancer: Kidney cancer is the most common cancer in both men and women. Smoking increases the risk of tobacco inhalation into the bloodstream that eventually is carried into the kidneys for filtration. These chemicals get stuck in the kidneys and strain the body. Research indicates that tobacco smoking is a risk factor for cancer in all renal upper tract areas - ureter, kidney & pelvis.
• Kidney Stones: Kidney stones originate in your kidney and travel to your urinary tract. Passing kidney stones through the urinary tract is quite a painful process, but usually doesn't cause permanent damage. If you are smoking, you are at a high risk of getting kidney stones.
• Overactive Bladder: Overactive bladder is a condition where you feel sudden, uncontrolled, frequent need to urinate, whether your bladder is full or not. When this is difficult to control, it may lead to the leaking of urine many times during day and night. Smoking causes damage to the lining of the bladder and aggravates the overactive bladder symptoms.
• Infertility: Smoking can harm the genetic make-up of eggs and sperm. It reduces hormone production and makes conception difficult. Smoking has a reproductive effect in women and is strongly discouraged during pregnancy. Almost 50% of infertility cases can be linked to male infertility, directly associated with smoking. One’s chances of conception can be significantly increased by quitting smoking.

Smoking is one of the greatest threats to a healthy & happy life. Consult a urologist to explore ways of kicking this habit out of your life for good.