Jump to full article: The Independent (uk), 2006-06-18
Author: Sophie Goodchild and Martin Hodgson
Intro: Tobacco companies are funding research into infertility in a bid to counter widespread evidence that smoking drastically undermines the chances of conceiving.
Philip Morris, one of the world's largest cigarette firms, is being accused by the anti-smoking lobby of attempting to deceive smokers into believing they can improve their chances of having children if they take vitamin supplements.
Campaigners such as the anti-smoking charity Ash say that tobacco giants have turned their attention to treatments which may boost fertility in a "cynical" attempt to change their image.
The criticism is in response to the publication of a Philip Morris-backed study this week which concludes that taking supplements of the mineral selenium, which is found in shellfish, as well as vitamin E tablets can boost fertility in men who have low-quality sperm.
However, the study, carried out by experts in Montreal in Canada, fails to make any mention of the fact that smoking drastically undermines sperm quality and that any benefits of vitamin and mineral supplements would be cancelled out by the effects of cigarettes. . . .
Tobacco companies have also been accused of turning a blind eye to cigarette smuggling in order to flood new markets with their product. And they have faced criticism for launching aggressive marketing campaigns, which would be banned in the West, linking tobacco with sex, youth and glamour.
Health workers say that the tobacco firms are taking advantage of looser trading restrictions and lower levels of health education to ensnare a new captive market of nicotine addicts.
"By funding research they create the impression that there is an ongoing debate about the health impact of smoking," said John Britton, professor of epidemiology at Nottingham University. . . .
The new research is the latest in a series of studies used by the tobacco lobby in an attempt to downplay the potential health hazards of smoking.
In 1999, research carried out by the Parkinson's Institute in California showed that smoking may lessen the risk of Parkinson's disease.
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