SMOKING can affect your love life!

Cigarettes can significantly affect the quality of a man's sexual performance and is recognised as a contributory factor to impotence.

This is because smoking - and nicotine in particular - affects the circulatory system, impairing the efficient flow of blood in the penis.

Studies have showed that male smokers are more likely to develop impotence than non-smokers.

Evidence from the Impotence Association includes:

Smoking two high tar cigarettes, one after the other, reduces blood flow within the penis by about a third.

Smoking increases the risk of heart and circulatory disease, which in turn increases the risk of impotence.

Smoking cigarettes reduces the quality of erections in men who are being treated for impotence using intravenous drugs.

Impotence affects at least one-in-10 men over 21, and can lead to shame and frustration. But the vast majority of cases are treatable.

The Impotence Association offers help and information on the common condition. Its confidential helpline number is 0181 767 7791.

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