Posted on: 31 May 2024
It’s World Tobacco Day, which aims to raise awareness about the link between smoking and health issues. Cigarette smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and causes many diseases. Smoking can also cause many types of urologic cancers and can greatly impact your urologic health. Let’s take a look at how smoking can lead to these urologic conditions and diseases.
Smoking is the greatest risk factor for bladder cancer, causing about half of all cases. Smoking causes harmful chemicals and drugs to collect in the urine.
When a person smokes, the smoke is drawn into the lungs. It then makes its way into the bloodstream, where it is filtered into the kidneys and may cause kidney cancer.
Erectile dysfunction is caused by poor blood flow to the penis. Smoking can harm blood vessels, which can impact the blood flow. This can lead to not being able to get or keep an erection firm enough for sex.
Other conditions that may be impacted by smoking include kidney stones, interstitial cystitis (IC) or painful bladder syndrome, incontinence (leaking urine) and overactive bladder (OAB).
If you smoke, talk to your doctor about ways to quit. If you know someone who smokes, share this information with them and encourage them to also talk with their doctor. Together we can improve our overall health, including urologic health.
For more information, check out this article from the spring 2024 UrologyHealth extra® magazine issue.
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