A STUDY ON EFFECTS OF TOBACCO CHEWING ON VARIOUS SEMEN PARAMETERS

Backgrounds and objectives: Previous studies suggest a deleterious effect of tobacco abuse on semen quality, but their results have not been consistent. We studied the association between current trends of tobacco chewing and its deleterious effects on semen characteristics. Material and method: Our study was performed on 145 normal asymptomatic healthy males (50 controls, 95 tobacco chewers) with age-group between 18-47 years. The effects of both severity and duration of tobacco chewing on semen parameters were studied. Results and Interpretation: We observed an inverse dose–response relation between tobacco chewing and semen volume, total sperm count and percentage motile and viable sperm. Heavy or long term tobacco chewers had a lower sperm concentration than control group. Conclusion: We observed a dose and duration dependent association between tobacco exposure, lower sperm concentration and higher risk of oligozoospermia.