How shisha and e-cigarettes lead to erectile dysfunction

Then there are electronic cigarettes that one can carry around anywhere and smoke at any time.

These are battery powered devices that heat up liquid which contains nicotine, flavourings, and other additives into a vapour that can be inhaled.

They're also called e-cigarettes, e-cigs, or vapes and may look like cigarettes, cigars, pipes, pens or memory sticks.

Regardless of their physical shape, most e-cigarettes consist of four different components, including: a cartridge or reservoir or pod, which holds a liquid solution (e-liquid or e-juice) containing varying amounts of nicotine, flavourings, and other chemicals; a heating element; a power source (usually a battery); and a mouthpiece that the person uses to inhale.

Both e-cigarettes and shisha affect the lungs as they contain tobacco and which has several toxic agents known to cause lung, bladder, and oral cancers.

Usually unspoken about, they also do affect the reproductive system and cause erectile dysfunction in men and birth defects on children for expectant women.

Your Health spoke to some local users of e-cigarettes who explained how they use e-cigarettes and shisha, how they feel and the effects they’ve observed.

“I used to smoke e-cigarettes (vaping) every day, only resting during meals or if I’m too busy. I did this until the day I found out that it’s the source of my erectile dysfunction,” says Brighton Makwaya*, a 31-year-old a musician and songwriter.

Makwaya further shares: “I remember buying an e-cigarette last year (2022), and at first, I was smoking twice a day and then I became addicted to smoking nonstop.”

“I used to feel relieved whenever I smoked. I feel a certain kind of enjoyment that I can’t explain,” he adds.

“After six months of vaping daily, sometime in May this year, my girlfriend visited me as usual and when we tried to have sex, I couldn’t get erect,” he narrates.

“I thought that I was probably tired because I’m a person who eats a balanced diet and exercises regularly. In other words I’m physically fit and healthy so why would this happen to me?”

Makwaya added that the situation did not only last that, it became a recurring problem. “The other, day the same thing happened, whenever we tried to have sex, I’d only last 2 minutes. I felt ashamed and asked myself what the cause might be.”

So one day, sharing stories with friends in the streets, there was a topic discussed on how shisha, hookahs and vaping may cause erectile dysfunction and it seemed that many others were also experiencing it.

Makwaya shared with friends that for a while now, he’d been experiencing the problem and they suggested he should quit vaping and watch for results as vaping might be the reason.

While struggling to quit smoking Makwaya says: “I wasn’t be able to quit immediately so I started by reducing the smoking frequency to smoking thrice then twice a day until I finally quit.”

“After I started reducing the frequency that I smoked, I found myself able to normally get erect and the erectile dysfunction was no longer a problem. That’s when I realised vaping was the cause of my problem,” he shares.

On the other hand, 27-year-old Hans Kiunsi shares his views on vaping and smoking shisha saying: “Vaping helps to boost my libido as whenever I smoke my sexual desire increases and I enjoy it. I don’t see any problem with smoking shisha or e-cigarettes.”

Doctor Katanta Simwanza, Gender,Child Protection and Public Health Specialist, in an exclusive interview with Your Health, explained how shisha and vapes affect the reproductive system of both males and females.

“Shisha and tobacco both contain nicotine and affect women, especially the pregnant ones. Nicotine lessens placenta quality by narrowing the blood vessels and restricting blood flow in the placenta which may lead to premature births or babies born with low weight,” says Simwanza.

“When the placenta quality is reduced, the risk of a new-born being affected by disease is high, for instance if a pregnant woman is HIV positive, the baby is likely to be infected as well. Smoking will also affect the baby’s developing lungs.”

Dr Simwanza adds that smoking contributes to infant death syndrome, which refers to a sudden infant death of a baby survives only a few days after birth.

“Also, people should know that those exposed to smoke are more affected than smokers,” he narrated.

Speaking of men, Dr Simwanza explained: “Smoking shisha and any other tobacco products results in low sperm production and sperm quality resulting in sperm produced being weak for fertilisation”.

Dr Frank Jongo, a urologist at the Kairuki Hospital in Dar es Salaam, explained how smoking leads to erectile dysfunction.

“For erections to occur, changes occur in the penis where by a parasympathetic nerve which has nitric oxide synthase that produces nitric oxide causes a dilation of blood vessels within the penis, increasing blood flow and leading to an erection,” he explains.

When one smokes cigarettes, the effect is a decrease in nitric oxide synthase activity, leading to partial or total failure of dilatation in the penile blood vessels, hence a decreased blood flow which eventually leads to erectile dysfunction,

Smoking interferes with the blood flow in blood vessels and not only causes erectile dysfunction but also causes heart problems in the long run.

It is important to consider the long-term effects of our actions, no matter how fun they may be at the time.