What is the connection between erection and e-cigarettes? An erection is the result of a complex but well-ordered process involving your brain, blood vessels, erectile nerves and hormones. A disorder at either of these levels can lead to erectile dysfunction. 

So what is the connection between erection and e-cigarettes? 

Smoking, among other things, damages the vessels and has a vasoconstricting effect, which can compromise the blood flow to the small arteries of the penis and thus prevent erection. We have known for a long time that cigarettes are not an ally of male sexual health.

That said, do you vape?

An American study revealed, this time, a side effect linked to vaping in men. Indeed, according to a study by Johns Hopkins University in New York, published on November 30, 2021, in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, men aged 20 to 65 with no history of cardiovascular disease but using e-cigarettes are 2.4 times more likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction compared to men who have never used e-cigarettes.

The sample used in the study

“Our analysis took into account the smoking history of the participants, including those who never smoked cigarettes at baseline,” said study author Dr. Omar El Shahawy. “It is possible that daily vaping is associated with a higher likelihood of erectile dysfunction, independent of smoking history,” he added.

The study analyzed data on e-cigarette use from data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) , a study of the health consequences of smoking for more than 40,000 Americans. 

“We excluded people with high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease, which largely explain erectile difficulties, and we excluded people with a history of smoking. And we still found a large and significant association between vaping and erectile dysfunction,” El Shahawy said.

“For men who had a history of heart disease, the risk of erectile dysfunction was more than three times higher,” he added.

“One reason is that nicotine and other chemicals in vapes can reduce the ability of arteries to widen and dilate, which is what causes erectile dysfunction. These chemicals can also reduce testosterone levels, another main cause of dysfunction,” said Ahmad Besaratinia, who studies the impact of vaping on genetics.

What increases the risk

The risk increases for everyday vaping, rather than vaping in general. It is a greater exposure that increases the risk of erectile dysfunction. An additional factor is that newer generations of electronic cigarettes deliver a lot of nicotine – some of them have higher nicotine levels than cigarettes.

However, there is good news…

If men who use an electronic cigarette daily are more likely to develop erectile dysfunction, the researchers however noticed that the practice of a sports activity seemed to reduce this risk.

The downside of this study…

Several factors, such as taking medications that can cause erectile dysfunction, were not taken into account for the study. It is, therefore, necessary to conduct other studies in order to be able to confirm a potential link between electronic cigarettes and erectile dysfunction.

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Source and references
Association of e-cigarettes with erectile dysfunction: the population assessment of tobacco and health study (American Journal of Preventive Medicine)

Written by PROCURE. © All rights reserved – 2022