Support
Smoking/ Vaping
How does smoking and vaping effect thrush?
By Lauren Gibbons
At the moment, there isn’t enough evidence to say that either smoking or vaping causes vaginal thrush or makes someone more susceptible to recurrent thrush.
There is some indirect research suggesting that smoking can affect the vaginal environment, while laboratory research has found that e-cigarette vapour can affect Candida albicans - the yeast responsible for most cases of vaginal thrush - in the mouth.
What does the research say about smoking?
Research suggests that cigarette smoking can affect the vaginal microbiome.
A 2014 study found that women who smoked were more likely to have lower levels of Lactobacillus bacteria in their vaginal microbiome compared with non-smokers (Brotman et al 2014). These bacteria help maintain the vaginal environment and suppress the overgrowth of potentially harmful bacteria.
Researchers also found that compounds associated with smoking, including nicotine, can accumulate in vaginal secretions.
A follow-up study in 2018 provided further evidence that smoking is associated with changes to the vaginal environment, including conditions that make it harder for Lactobacillus bacteria to thrive (Nelson et al 2018).
Crucially, these studies focused on bacterial vaginosis (BV), which is caused by an imbalance of vaginal bacteria and is different from vaginal thrush. However, the findings have raised questions about whether smoking could have wider effects on vaginal health that have not yet been fully explored.
What about vaping?
There is much less research into vaping and vaginal health.
In a laboratory study, researchers found that exposure to e-cigarette vapour increased the growth of Candida albicans in oral tissue and promoted characteristics associated with its ability to cause disease (Alanazi et al 2019).
The study looked at Candida in the mouth, rather than the vagina, so its findings cannot be directly applied to vaginal thrush. However, it provides one reason why the relationship between vaping and Candida may warrant further research.
The bottom line
The evidence connecting smoking or vaping specifically to vaginal thrush is currently limited.
For now, smoking and vaping should not be considered established causes of recurrent thrush, but further research into their potential effects on vaginal health would help provide clearer answers.
Further reading
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30669681/