Active and passive smoking would be linked to infertility problems and to an acceleration of menopause before the age of 50. This is what a large American study shows.
Well beyond the lungs, smoking, both active and passive, continues to reveal its perverse effects. It would be linked this time to problems of infertility in women and an acceleration of natural menopause before the age of 50. This is what shows a large study published in the journal Tobacco Control. American researchers have based their findings on the lifestyle habits of 93 000 women participant in the cohort Women's Health Initiative Observational Study (WHI OS). All these women were already menopausal, and older than 50-79 when they were recruited for the study at 40 different centers across the United States.
During their work, the scientists asked current and former smokers how many cigarettes they smoked (or had smoked) daily, and the age at which they started to smoke, and finally how many years they had smoked.
Menopause before the age of 50
Result, 15,4% of women for which fertility data were available encountered problems in trying to conceive. And almost half (45%) of the women included in the analysis reported that they had experienced menopause before
the age of 50.
Analysis of the data showed that tobacco exposure was associated with 14% increased risk of infertility and a 26% increased risk of menopause before the age of 50. And for the highest levels of tobacco consumption (more than 30 cigarettes per day), menopause is same arrival 18 months earlier than those who smoked less than 25 cigarettes a day.
Results to be confirmed
Passive smokers, on the other hand, were 18% more likely to have had infertility problems than women who had never been exposed to it. The highest level of exposure to second-hand smoke was associated with the onset of menopause 13 months earlier than in those never exposed. But for researchers, these disturbing figures about early menopause in patients are not yet entirely clear. They specify that it is for the moment an observational study.
They nevertheless point out that the toxins present in tobacco smoke are already known to have various harmful effects on many aspects of reproduction and hormonal activity. " This is one of the first large-scale studies that quantifies the harms of passive smoke as an active, and the associated health problems in women. It strengthens current evidence that all women need to be protected from active and passive tobacco smoke ».
Source : pourquoidocteur.fr/
