It used to be that the idea of smoking cigarettes called to mind the rugged cowboys of old advertisements. Tied to those images were all sorts of associations to virility and masculinity. Unfortunately, cigarette smoking can negatively affect a man's fertility, leading to erectile dysfunction.
Cigarette smoke contributes to the buildup of arterial plaque, which hardens and narrows the arteries. This causes a decrease in blood flow that leads to difficult or decreased circulation to the penis.
Smoking cigarettes can also cause a breakdown in the chemical messages sent from the brain to the reproductive organs. Those messages make an erection possible. Quitting smoking may restore some of that missed communication, as well as slow down, or stop, the congestion of the arteries from plaque.