Smoking, Secondhand Smoke May Cause Infertility, Early Menopausal Among Women

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Researchers from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, found out that women's reproductive health may be compromised by their smoking habit or exposure to secondhand smoke.

According to the new study, which was published online in the Tobacco Control journal on Tuesday, Dec. 15, women who smoke or were exposed frequently to secondhand smoke have a greater chance of having infertility problems and likely to get into menopausal stage earlier as compared to those who do not smoke or were least exposed to secondhand smoke, according to a Reuters report.

The study led by Andrew Hyland of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute considered data from more than 88,000 women in the U.S. who enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study between 1993 and 1998 when they were between the ages of 50 and 79.

The findings revealed that those who smoke the most get into menopausal earlier compared to those who do not smoke by about two years. The participants of the study who admitted they were active smokers at some point in their lives also have a higher chance of about 14 percent to suffer infertility and 26 percent more likely to enter menopause early.

And, for those women who did not smoke but were exposed to secondhand smoke the most were 18 percent more likely to have trouble with pregnancy and enter menopause at an early age, compared to women who never smoked and were exposed to the least amount of secondhand smoke, Daily Nation reported.

"This study provides additional motivation and incentive for women of all ages to avoid smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke, as well as to quit smoking," said Patricia Folan, director of the Center for Tobacco Control at North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, N.Y. She added that both smoking and secondhand smoke exposure are also linked to premature birth, low birth weight, infant death and certain birth defects.

Folan said that findings from such studies should provide valuable insights for health care providers, particularly ob-gyn practitioners, in order to come up with a good advice for their patients regarding the health risks involve in smoking and secondhand smoke, wrote Health.com.

Even though, the research team was able to make way for some adjustments to take into consideration other factors that may be associated with infertility and early menopausal, Hyland, still, noted that the findings of the study cannot lead to any conclusion proving that smoking, indeed, causes these health problems.

The study also cannot tell why such link appears between smoke exposure and infertility and early menopause. But, based on the research findings of other related studies, the hormones of women are affected upon exposure to smoke, said Hyland.