A prospective study from Urology Research Center of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, assessed whether stopping smoking can improve erectile dysfunction (ED), as one of the well known risk factors for ED is cigarette smoking.
Smokers who requested nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and complained of ED were first evaluated for hypertension, dyslipidaemia, diabetes, psychiatric disorders and drug history. The grade of ED in smokers, with none of these risk factors, was then determined using the five-item version of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) before NRT, and the grading repeated after 1 year of follow-up. The correlation between the exposure to smoking (pack-years) and severity of ED was assessed before the follow-up. The ED status between patients who stopped smoking after NRT and those who continued smoking during the follow-up period, was then compared before and after the follow-up period.
The severity of ED correlated significantly with the level of exposure to smoking. After 1 year the ED status improved in > or = 25% of ex-smokers, but in none of the current smokers;
Ex-smokers had a significantly better ED status after the follow-up (P = 0.009). Among ex-smokers, patients with advanced ED and those who were older had less improvement.
Conclusion is that stopping cigarette smoking can improve erectile dysfunction in a considerable percentage of smokers. There is a strong association between the intensity of cigarette smoking and the degree of ED. Age and the severity of ED before stopping smoking, are inversely related to the chance of erectile dysfunction improvement.
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15610111