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How long before planned conception should a man quit smoking?
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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In a recent study, a group of British scientists was finally able to establish the direct harm that male smoking causes to the health of future offspring. Using special modeling, doctors were able to clearly demonstrate that male smoking before conception leads to an increased predisposition of children to a number of diseases, including cancer.
Thus, the researchers conclude that when planning a child, smoking men should also give up their bad habit, just like women.
However, after the discovery was made, the researchers were asked the question: how long before the planned conception should a man quit smoking in order to minimize the health risk to his future child? For women, this period currently ranges from 2 to 3 years, and some doctors consider even periods of such duration insufficient. However, smoking men obviously will not have to wait that long. The period of sperm maturation in their body can be a maximum of 3 months. This is how much time should pass between the last puff of a cigarette and the conception of a child.
“Smoking triggers mutagenic processes in human reproductive cells. When a child is conceived, its mother and father lay the foundations of DNA – a kind of foundation for the health of their future child. Male smoking, perhaps only to a slightly lesser extent than female smoking, can lead to the emergence of cracks in this foundation, which will subsequently affect the entire structure in the most deplorable way,” notes Dr. Gerald Weissmann, one of the authors of the study and a professor from the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Bradford.
“Three months is only a minimum period, and no one can guarantee that a person who has smoked for several years before will not have this bad habit affect the health of their child. It is extremely difficult to assess the degree of risk here, so men should think about their health and the health of their children and not get addicted to this bad habit. If a man smokes, then my personal advice for him is to quit smoking at least six months before the expected conception of a child, and also to have a sperm test twice - on the first day of quitting smoking and a week before conception, to assess the activity of spermatozoa and their concentration. These factors are indicative, and if they have recovered within six months, then this is a very good sign,” he adds.
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