[Smoking damages male fertility]

It is concluded from a survey on the world literature: Smoking damages the male fertility. Smoker should therefore stop the smoking not only in respect to their own health but from sense of responsibility for the future generation too. The most important reasons for this conclusions are: Tobacco smoke contains numerous mutagenic substances. They reach the male gonads via the blood. They show their mutagenic action here openly much more stronger than on egg-cells because the spermatogenesis continues over the whole male reproductive period whereas the formation of eggs is already completed in the fetal phase. The majority of studies indicates to a damaging effect also on the number and/or the motility and morphology of spermatozoa by strong smoking during a longer time. Especially smoking husbands with infertile marriages the urgent advice therefore should be given to stop smoking. Weighty epidemiological and experimental results suggest a teratogenic action in the offspring by smoking of fathers too - independently for the smoking customs of the mother. A verification and extension of these results are very desirable.