With the New Year holiday comes with new resolutions and one wants to start a new life in 2023 with a renewed hope of being changed both mentally and physically. Quitting smoking is one of the most frequently set resolutions in the United States, as 20 percent of the surveyed population want to get rid of this habit in 2022. It is not easy to quit a habit; however, raising awareness about the harm caused to our health by smoking on it, getting an idea of the way towards its end, and enlisting the assistance of a clinician can help us to make this resolution of our lives a reality!
When we consider the impacts of smoking or vaping to the body, most would consider the impacts to our lungs, our breathing or the mouth and face. The actual process of smoking in fact affects literally every part of our body and health and not only the parts that are directly exposed to the smoke or vapor. The vagina and reproductive organs are sensitive to the use of tobacco or marijuana products as well as to vaping and may result to numerous effects and in some cases harmful and negative outcomes on their fertility, pregnancy and sexuality.
So What are the Effects of Tobacco and Nicotine Products to your Sexual Health?
There are more than 7,000 chemicals present in the tobacco smoke, some of them are toxic and may cause harm to a body. When one smokes tobacco or vapes, the chemicals contained in the smoke are inhaled into the lungs and the chemicals become a part of the blood, circulating throughout the body including having a chance to interact with any organs system in the body. Second hand exposure can get to inhale the toxins present in tobacco smoke and this can affect the exposed people. Tar, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide (poison), acetone, nickel, benzene (gasoline), and carbon monoxide found in the tobacco smoke have been labeled as some of the worst usually associated with cancer and other health complications.
The liquids that are filled into the e-cigarettes and pod cartridges usually have a combination of a common food additive, propylene glycol, and/or vegetable glycerin, and a set of flavoring chemicals that are much more exposing the users to possibly harmful elements. Although it should not be forgotten that the long-term health consequences of smoking are not fully comprehended yet and the results are still under investigation in order to provide the complete assessment of the products, the requested e-liquid combinations might include certain detrimental components that are either similar or the same to the compounds which tobacco smoke brings about. E-cigarette and cartridge liquids have been identified to contain toxins like formaldehyde, acetone, diacetyl, acrolein and large doses of nicotine.
What Are the Effects of Smoking Tobacco and Nicotine Products on the vagina and sexual health?
It has been found that smoking hinders our immune system causing a higher chance of BV, yeast infection and herpes outbreaks, besides doubling the chances of developing pre cancerous cells of the cervix. Vaginal pH, which is a crucial part of keeping a microbiome (or balance of naturally occurring bacteria and yeast in the body), is affected in the presence of smoking or vaping chemicals. Significant elevation of the pH, affecting the vaginal tissue and microbial community negatively, is caused by inflammation due to an accumulation of breakdown products, also known as metabolites, of these toxic agents. Research has revealed that nicotine and other smoke or vaping metabolites have the ability to alter the vagina balances by creating an unfavorable environment on to the good bacteria, hence translating to a higher susceptibility of the vagina to develop infections like bacterial vaginosis (BV).
This imbalance of the PH/microbiome can result in an obvious change of smell, especially in the case of BV, leading to a so called fishy odor, accompanied by watery milky discharge that is often off white or grey. The addition of a diet supplement, i.e., a feminine probiotic may assist your body to regain its microbiome and natural scent, but, in new or repeat cases of bothersome symptoms, a consultation with your GYN with a full assessment and treatment is recommended, along with help to quit smoking, in case necessary.
Besides influencing vaginal microbiome, nicotine and its metabolites have been reported to cause a reduction in blood circulation in the vagina resulting in low libido, vaginal dryness, and low lubrication. This might make sex painful and might lead to tearing or other form of damage to the vaginal tissue, further raising inflammation and imbalance of pH. It is necessary to add that they can be attracted by cigarette smoking or any other use of tobacco-derived products, and also by nicotine products including e-cigarettes. Some of these effects may be reduced by maintaining positive external vaginal hygiene through use of water and a non aggravating feminine cleansing such as Femi Clear Restoratives. And the final comprehensive measure is to start the process of becoming a non-smoking or vaping person.
What are the Reproductive impacts of chewing tobacco and Nicotine products?
Smoking has a number of ways through which it has been found to reduce fertility and the production of estrogen due to the toxins. These substances may influence the reproductive organs through causing damages to the fallopian tubes which are the ones that transport the eggs in the ovaries to the uterus. Tobacco or vaping smoke contains toxins and products of metabolism that may irritate the lining of the fallopian tubes and result in scarring and obstructions. This may cause an egg to move with more difficulty in the tubes and an infertility possibility may rise. The cervical mucus which aids in the passage of sperm to the egg may also be altered by nicotine metabolites by thickening and becoming unfriendly to sperm. A number of researches have identified that the smoke chemicals can affect the normal operations of the ovaries and eventually prevent the flow of estrogen that can cause irregular periods, lack of fertility and other menstrual problems.
Besides such effects on fertility, tobacco smoking may also affect pregnancy and fetal development adversely. Pregnant women who smoke may cause preterm births, and the loss of the child may occur because smoking makes the risk of miscarriage grow. Additionally, the infant is born with a low weight. Children that are born to mothers who smoke during pregnancy might be more susceptible to poor health conditions like respiratory problems and even slow development.
What is The Impact of Smoking Marijuana On Sexual Health?
Marijuana is a psychoactive substance which is produced using Cannabis plant. It major active ingredient is the THC or tetrahydrocannabinol that finds its way through the cannabinoid receptors distributed all over our body. Just like tobacco smoke or vape smoke, marijuana smoke may have toxic components, such as tar and carbon monoxide, and others, depending on how the substance is prepared. The impact of smoking or vaping marijuana-driven products in the vagina and reproductive organs is poorly comprehended because little study has been conducted on the subject. However, there is some indication to indicate that frequent use of marijuana might result in reduced immunity to infections such as BV and yeast besides possible fertility and pregnancy effects.
What are the Effects of Smoking Marijuana on Vaginal and Sex Health?
However, unfortunately, no studies that would directly address the question of the impact of marijuana usage on vaginal pH balance or even microbiome are available at this point. Similar to the ones of smoking tobacco or vaping, the conditions of presence of toxins and metabolites of e-liquids or other THC preparations, when using them repeatedly, have the potential to create changes of pH balance. In one of the recent studies, the researchers have found that using marijuana was associated with a significant correlation with BV, and the likelihood of experiencing a BV recurrence was twofold following marijuana use. Cannabis has been tied to increased and decreased libido with most researchers not understanding the mechanism but that it is depending on the individual and the dosage. To clarify how cannabis metabolites affect the vagina and the reproductive organs, future studies are required to investigate THC-related factors, which may result in the changes of the pH and microbiome.
What About the Reproductive System Smoking Marijuana?
More and more research is being carried out on how marijuana impacts upon our fertility and reproductive systems. The use of marijuana has also been seen to be related to the increased time to pregnancy and also there are chances of increasing an anovulatory infertility of type of infertility that may occur when woman fails to ovulate (release the eggs). THC is also revealed to possess the ability to influence our menstrual cycle hormones too. Also, to some extent, it has been established that marijuana could be harmful to the fetus in case it is used during pregnancy. Results of the review applied to the provided research discovered that the usage of marijuana during pregnancy brought a risk of low birth weight and preterm birth. Moreover, children who are babies of marijuana users are at a risk of obtaining developmental delays and other health effects.
To wrap it up, smoking or vaping of tobacco or marijuana products may cause potentially dangerous and adverse effects on the vagina and the reproductive organs. The chemicals inhaled or those produced in/or an add-on to smoking or vaping have been linked to higher chances of getting cancer, immune system damage and infections, menstrual cycle problems, fertility problems, and pregnant women and their unborn babies. With our best health on the mind as we begin a new year, we should be careful to make note of these possible risks and of the havoc that smoking tobacco or marijuana products may wreak on our reproductive organs.
