Smoking can affect menstrual irregularities

Everyone knows that smoking is harmful to human health, but many people don’t know that smoking is far more harmful to women than to men. Women have their periods every month, and the most frightening thing about menstruation is encountering irregular menstruation, because irregular menstruation is very detrimental to women's reproductive health. There is a saying that smoking may cause menstrual irregularities in women. So, does smoking affect irregular menstruation?

Smoking can cause menstrual irregularities. Whether it is people who smoke directly or people who are exposed to passive smoking, the harmful substances in cigarettes will cause serious harm to physical health. The most common of these is that it affects menstrual function, leading to abnormal menstrual cycles or dysmenorrhea.

Cigarettes contain a large amount of nicotine, tar and other harmful substances. Nicotine has a specific inhibitory effect on aromatase in the ovaries. Aromatase is an enzyme essential for the synthesis of estrogen. Once inhibited by nicotine, estrogen production will decrease, causing menstrual disorders, oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea.

Secondhand smoke can also affect women's menstrual function. The more people who smoke around women, the greater the risk of menstrual disorders. This is because the mainstream smoke and sidestream smoke from burning cigarettes are basically the same in chemical composition, and there is no essential difference between the health effects of active smoking and passive smoking. Benzene, lead, manganese, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in cigarettes are harmful to the female reproductive system, especially nicotine, cadmium and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which can poison the ovaries, reduce the number of mature oocytes, and cause abnormal secretion of sex hormones, which in turn lead to menstrual disorders.

What are the dangers of smoking for women

Smoking affects fertility

1. Women's smoking affects not only their own physical health, but also directly affects the next generation. Pregnant women should pay special attention to this. Tobacco contains more than 20 toxic substances, among which nicotine is the most toxic. It can enter the fetus directly through the placenta, leading to slow embryonic development, miscarriage, fetal malformation, congenital heart disease, etc.; and the fetus's liver has poor detoxification ability, and smoke also damages the fetal liver; the fetal brain is poisoned by toxic substances in the smoke, and there is a risk of intellectual retardation or even death.

2. Nicotine in cigarettes can easily cause ciliary motility disorders in the fallopian tubes, affecting the normal functioning of sperm and fertilized eggs. It can also lead to low immune function in the body, making the fallopian tubes and other pelvic organs susceptible to inflammation and infection, causing the risk of infertility or ectopic pregnancy.

3. Smoking causes premature aging

Nicotine can stimulate the capillaries, causing them to spasm and contract, resulting in insufficient blood and oxygen supply to the skin, affecting normal metabolism and accelerating aging. The skin is more likely to become dry, rough, less elastic, more wrinkled, and have a dull complexion.