Relationship Between Smoking Habit and Sperm Parameters Among Patients Attending an Infertility Clinic

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to estimate stress markers, oxidative stress (OS), reproductive hormones and sperm parameters in male smokers and non-smokers and observe the impact of oxidative stress markers and smoking on sperm count, motility and morphology in a selected population of Karachi, Pakistan. METHODS: -value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: -value < 0.05). This study has shown that the semen parameters (total count, motility, and morphology) are decreased in infertile smokers as compared to infertile non-smokers. Furthermore, the multivariate analysis showed that smoking causes a significant decrease in sperm count and morphology but it did not have any significant effect on motility. CONCLUSION: Smoking has a significant effect on fertility, specifically sperm count and normal morphology of sperm. This might be due to OS produced by smoking, which has devastating effects on semen parameters, thus reducing male fertility. Infertility specialist should counsel their patients about the ill effects of smoking on their fertility status and should advise maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including normal weight and avoiding smoking, to prevent future health problems. Hence smokers should quit smoking for their next generation.