The negative effects of smoking cigarettes are long, but along with its adverse effects on health, cigarettes also have intense effects on hormones. Smoking has various effects on hormone secretion. The effects are mainly caused by nicotine and also by toxins such as thiocyanate. Smoking have expressive impact on pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, testicular and ovarian function, calcium metabolism and the action of insulin. The major prominent clinical effects are the augmented risk and severity of Graves’ hyperthyroidism and reduced fertility. Smoking causes insulin resistance which results type 2 diabetes mellitus.
A significant concern of smoking effect on fetus and young children. The passive transfer of thiocyanate can trouble of thyroid size and function. Maternal smoking may cause serious harm to the fetus. A recent study find out that older women smoker have higher levels of sex hormones than a nonsmoking women. This increases risk of breast cancer, diabetes, and other diseases for them. The premenopausal women who smoke have higher risk of sterility, problematic menstrual cycles and early menopause. Smoking also affects menopausal hormones. This is a recognized risk factor for a wide range of chronic diseases in women.
Nicotine from cigarette rises flowing levels of cortisol and growth hormone. Cortisol is a hormone that plays a dynamic role in the response to danger. Nicotine affects the levels of cortisol in your body. Anxious people may have high levels of cortisol but if you have low levels they may need improving to make you more alert. Nicotine doesn’t allow to keep the cortisol level balanced in your body. It affect cortisol levels differently. If cortisol are too low, it increases them and if too high, it drops them. This nature can explain the reason why smokers are anti-social, unruly, and impetuous. Fascinatingly, being anti-social at young age is the single strongest predictor of later smoking.
Also see-
Health effects of smoking cigarettes that you should know
Smoking relationship with anxiety
The relationship of smoking to sleep
