Smoking and impotence "For men in their 30s and 40s, smoking increases the risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) by about 50 per cent.
Did you know? The British Medical Association estimates that up to 120,000 men have ED because of smoking.
Erection can't occur unless blood can flow freely into the penis, so these blood vessels have to be in good condition.
Smoking can damage the blood vessels and cause them to degenerate: nicotine narrows the arteries that lead to the penis, reducing blood flow and the pressure of blood in the penis.
This narrowing effect increases over time, so if you haven't got problems now, things could change later.
Erection problems in smokers may be an early warning signal that cigarettes are already damaging other areas of the body – such as the blood vessels that supply the heart."