Cigarette Smoking Contributes to Infertility and Miscarriage

Cigarette Smoking linked to Infertility and Miscarriage

Reproductive cells are vulnerable to genetic damage from smoking, but can be repaired.

In ejaculated spermatozoa, repair capacity declines drastically. This means that that repair is necessary at the time sperm is growing and developing in the testicles.

Smoking leads to chromosome errors which affect reproductive outcomes.
Smoking is associated with reduced numbers of eggs leading to early menopause.

Smoking inhibits embryo fragmentation; inhibition may confer survival advantage to embryos genetically altered. This can lead to pregnancy with impending miscarriage, or children born with cancer or born with genetic defects.

Smoking is associated with low sperm quality. Cadmium (a heavy metal), nicotine (a toxic alkaloid), and its metabolite cotinine, are detectable in testicular and ovarian tissue tissues and fluids in association with smoking. Cotinine incorporates into ovarian granulosa–lutein cells, compromising the developmental potential of follicles. Benzo[a]pyrene is a carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon resulting from cigarette combustion.

Smoking-related cellular products were detectable in ovarian granulosa–lutein cells, eggs, sperm and embryos. Transmission of altered DNA from smoking by sperm was demonstrated in embryos and in association with increased risk of childhood cancer.

We know that cigarette smoking stems in part from anxiety. The satisfaction derived from cigarette smoking is complicated and manifold but nonetheless stems from the need to reduce anxiety.

In 1999, clinical researchers reported that inserting acupuncture needles into specific body points triggers the production of endorphins. In another study, higher levels of endorphins were found in cerebrospinal fluid after patients underwent acupuncture. Endorphins have been shown to reduce anxiety.

Based upon my clinical experience, acupuncture can aid in the cessation of cigarette smoking and thereby serve two purposes: 1) improve the health of the individual and, 2) improve the quality of egg and/or sperm and increase pregnancy outcomes and reduce miscarriage rates as well as aid in the health of the newborn.

If you and your partner are trying to conceive, the cessation of cigarette smoking is of the utmost importance.

At the Berkley Center for Reproductive Wellness, a leading fertility center in New York City, we have devised a protocol which confers an approximate 50% cure to cigarette smoking without drugs, nicotine, or other chemicals.