Smoking in Men

Did you know that men who smoke raise their risk of lung cancer by more than 22 times? Did you know that smoking could affect more than just your lungs?

Not only does smoking cause lung diseases (such as lung cancer, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis), it can increase your risk for other health problems:

• heart disease: blood flow to the heart is critically reduced
• stroke: lack of blood flow to the brain from a blood clot, or bleeding in the brain from a broken blood vessel
• osteoporosis: thinning or weakening of your bones
• other cancers: such as cancer of the throat, mouth, esophagus (food pipe), pancreas, kidney, bladder, and prostate
• impotence and infertility: problems having an erection and getting your wife or partner pregnant
• wrinkles: damages the skin and causes wrinkling

Smoking around your wife, partner, or children can also cause serious health problems for them. They have a higher chance of developing lung cancer, asthma, allergies, ear infections, and other health problems.

Smoking around your pregnant wife or partner can also cause health problems for her and your baby. If your wife or partner smokes, it increases her chances of having a miscarriage (losing her pregnancy), stillbirth (the baby dying in her womb), infant death, premature or early birth, or having a baby with low birth weight.

Smoking also affects your baby when she breastfeeds. If she smokes and breastfeeds, your baby is exposed to the same harmful chemicals. Heavy smoking can reduce your wife's or partner's milk supply and can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea in your baby. But health care providers agree, if she has tried to quit smoking and can't, it still is better to breastfeed your baby than to give your baby formula.

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Provided by www.4woman.gov