Smoking, secondhand smoke linked to infertility, early menopause

Infertility in women is due to many causes but a new study now says that smoking and even secondhand smoke can not only cause infertility in women but also early menopause.

The researchers also found that smoking women or those exposed to secondhand smoke were more likely to enter menopause before age 50.

Andrew Hyland of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, said earlier studies had linked smoking to reproductive issues in women, but few had looked at links between secondhand smoke and infertility and early menopause.

‘The literature really wasn’t clear, particularly with secondhand smoke,’ said Hyland.

Hyland’s research team analyzed data on 88,732 U.S. women (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 women completed a questionnaire at the start and based on it about 15 percent met the criteria for infertility (which is the inability to get pregnant for at least a year). Likewise, about 45 percent also met the criteria for early menopause (menopause occurring before age 50).

Compared to women who never smoked, researchers found that those who reported being active smokers at some point in their lives were 14 percent more likely to have infertility and 26 percent more likely to enter menopause early.

Women who smoked the most reported entering menopause about two years earlier than women who didn’t smoke, the researchers report in the journal Tobacco Control.

Women who never smoked but were exposed to the most secondhand smoke were 18 percent more likely to have problems getting pregnant and to enter menopause at an early age, compared to women who never smoked and were exposed to the least amount of secondhand smoke.

While an 18 percent increased risk may seem modest, Hyland said it’s large considering infertility and early menopause are not uncommon.

‘There are a lot of events that could be attributed to these exposures,’ he said.

Hyland cautions that the study can’t prove smoking causes these problems. The research team did, however, adjust the data to account for other factors that would be tied to infertility and early menopause.

The study also can’t say what may underlie the link between smoke exposure and infertility and early menopause, but Hyland said other research suggests that smoke exposure may affect hormone levels.

It appears the association is driven by smoke exposure throughout a woman’s lifetime, he said.

‘As for a recommendation to clinicians, you should advise women of reproductive age to limit their exposure to minimize these outcomes,’ said Hyland.

Some of the other health issues that can occur due to smoking in women are:

• heart attacks
• strokes
• lung cancer
• emphysema (a lung condition)
• other serious chronic illnesses such as diabetes

In the last 50 years, a woman’s risk of dying from smoking has increased by more than 3 times and is now equal to men’s risk. The U.S has more than 20 million women and girls who smoke. About 170,000 women in America die of diseases caused by smoking each year.