Wednesday, Oct 21, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
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Women who smoke generally have modestly higher levels of some androgens.

The Claim

Smoking increases androgen levels in women.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

Smoking is generally associated with modestly higher levels of some androgens in women. A 2022 meta-analysis and several clinical studies support this pattern, although an earlier meta-analysis found no clear association for testosterone specifically. Because the evidence is predominantly observational and varies by hormone and menopausal status, it does not firmly establish that smoking directly causes an increase in every androgen across all women.

Caveats

  • The causal wording is stronger than the predominantly observational evidence supports.
  • Results differ by specific androgen, menopausal status, menstrual timing, and contraceptive use.
  • Several listed sources are duplicate publications or database versions of the same studies.

The Receipts

  1. Cigarette Smoking and Levels of Adrenal Androgens in Postmenopausal Women | New England Journal of Medicine

    nejm.org

  2. How Smoking Cessation Influence Hormonal Levels in Postmenopausal Women?

    doi.org

  3. Smoking induces increased androgen levels in early post- ...

    pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  4. Chronic Cigarette Smoking Alters Circulating Sex Hormones and Neuroactive Steroids in Premenopausal Women

    doi.org

  5. Current smoking is associated with a larger waist circumference and a more androgenic profile in young healthy women from high-risk breast cancer families

    doi.org

  6. Association of body mass index, age, and cigarette smoking with serum testosterone levels in cycling women undergoing in vitro fertilization

    doi.org

  7. The Influence of Smoking and Cessation on the Human Reproductive Hormonal Balance

    doi.org

  8. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Smoking ...

    pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  9. Cigarette smoking and endogenous sex hormones in postmenopausal women. - Abstract - Europe PMC

    europepmc.org

  10. Endocrine effects of tobacco smoking

    onlinelibrary.wiley.com

+ 24 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

AndrogensSmokingwomen

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