26 July 1998

Smokers Have Small Penises

The post coital smoke may be a thing of the past if the preliminary results of a study undertaken at the Boston University School of Medicine are proven. Researcher Dr Pedram Salimpour suggests that smoking may contribute to a decrease in penis size.

In the same way that smoking has been shown to damage the ability of the blood vessels in the heart and lungs to retain elasticity, Dr Salimpour reckons that the vessels of the penis may be equally affected. In fact the blood vessels of the penis are much smaller than those of the heart so constriction in this area may have relatively more severe consequences. Although whether the embarrassment of impotence is more severe than certain death, we at Science à GoGo are not qualified to judge.

Clive Bates, director of ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) says: "The advantage of the penis from the communications point of view is that it is easy to imagine it shrivelled up and shrunken whereas damage to other vital organs such as the heart is much less obvious or easy to visualise." - Of course the penis has the additional significant communication disadvantage of not being able to speak.