From his favourite sports channels to
movie channels, and sometimes news channels, watching television is one
of the ways Emeka Okon, a civil servant, unwinds anytime he comes back
from work. And on weekends, watching the TV is like a ritual for him.
“I come back home around 6pm every day
and from that moment, I don’t joke with some TV stations and when my
wife comes back, we watch some movie channels together before we go to
bed,” he said.
Emeka’s love for TV has been amplified
by the ongoing Olympics games in Rio, Brazil, as he has tried to keep up
with the different games, especially the ones that concern his fellow
countrymen and women, while Telemundo Channel has remained a sweet
alternative for him during his pastimes.
But, unknown to Emeka and many other
persons who take pleasure in watching TV for hours, there are some
inherent disadvantages in such, especially for men.
Findings by some researchers have shown
that watching TV more than five hours daily could affect a man’s
fertility as it can reduce the sperm count by one-third.
The researchers from the University of
Copenhagen, Denmark, studied 1,200 “healthy” young men. Some of the
participants were instructed to watch TV for at least five hours every
day, while the others were told to abstain from TV or reduce how much of
it they watched. The record of their sperm counts were taken before and
after the study.
According to the findings of the study, published on American Journal of Epidemiology, and reviewed on Mail Online, those
who watched TV for more than five hours had average sperm count of 37
million per millilitre of fluid, while those who hardly watched TV had
52 million per millilitre of fluid. Whereas, normal sperm count is
adjudged to be between 40 million and 300 million per millilitre
“Furthermore, decreases in testosterone
were detected in men watching many hours of television, the researchers
added. The hormone testosterone plays a key role in the development of
male reproductive tissues such as the testis and prostate, as well as
promoting secondary sexual characteristics such as increased muscle and
bone mass, and the growth of body hair.”
The researchers concluded that watching too much TV could make men less fertile, given the findings of their study.
In another study by researchers from
Harvard School of Public Health, it was also found that watching TV may
likely affect sperm count.
The researchers, including Jorge
Chavarro, an assistant professor of nutrition and epidemiology and lead
author, Audrey Gaskins, a doctoral student in the institution, said 20
hours of TV weekly could reduce sperm count by half, whereas engaging in
exercise can boost sperm count.
In the study, they analysed the semen
quality of 189 men. They asked the participants about their physical
activity and how much TV they watched, taking their respective health
conditions into consideration.
They said their results showed that men
who watched more than 20 hours of TV weekly had a 44 per cent lower
sperm count than those who watched almost no TV.
But, on the other hand, men who
exercised for at least 15 hours weekly at a moderate to vigorous rate
had a 73 per cent higher sperm count than those who exercised less than
five hours per week. “However, mild exercise did not affect sperm
quality,” they added.
Gaskins said, “We know very little about
how lifestyle may impact semen quality and male fertility in general so
identifying two potentially modifiable factors that appear to have such
a big impact on sperm counts is truly exciting.
“Men engaging in exercise for seven
hours or more per week, essentially one hour a day had 48 per cent
higher sperm concentration in their semen than men who were engaging in
less than one hour per week and there are particular forms of exercises
that boost sperm counts.
“Weightlifting has been shown to
increase testosterone levels and improve insulin sensitivity, both of
which have been found to be related to higher sperm concentrations. But,
there is one form of outdoor exercise that can decrease male fertility.
“Men who rode bicycle for more than an
hour and a half each week had 34 per cent lower sperm concentrations
than men who did not bike, because the pressure placed against the
scrotum by a bike seat or the increased scrotal temperatures caused by
such pressure are possible explanations for this decrease in fertility.”
The researchers concluded that as
exercise boosts sperm count, watching too much of TV could reduce sperm
count. They also cautioned that a reduced sperm count, even though
linked to lower fertility, does not necessarily preclude such men from
impregnating a woman. Regardless, it reduces their chances.
Meanwhile, apart from excessive watching
of TV, there are other things men do that can impair their sperm count,
and ultimately, their fertility. And it should be noted that male
infertility is often due to low sperm count.
A consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi, had told us in
a chat recently that apart from the fact that infertility can be
inherited, through the genes, lifestyle, vocation, infections and use of
certain drugs could also cause low sperm count.
According to him, “Some vocations can
also reduce sperm count. There is a documented study in France that
shows that men who work in fuel stations or paint industries over a very
long time can stand the risk of having low sperm count. Also, if you
play golf over a long time, the insecticide they use at golf courses
could cause low sperm count.
“It is for the same reason that people
are advised not to put their laptop on their laps, neither should they
put any radioactive device, like mobile phone, in their pocket because
of the radiation. Motorcycle riders and truck drivers whose testes are
subjected to very high temperature for a long period of time, by virtue
of their seating position, can also have their fertility affected.”
Meanwhile, a previous study, earlier
treated on this page, had revealed that wearing tight (butt-squeezing
and thigh-hugging) trousers could also lead to low sperm count, coupled
with the fact that it could cause testicular torsion, where one testicle
gets twisted on itself, and if left untreated, the torsion could cut
off circulation and cause the testicle to die.
A reproductive endocrinologist, Dr.
Celia Dominguez, had pointed out that the temperature of the groin area
matters for the testes to produce sufficient quality and quantity of
sperm.
He said, “The temperature of testes must
be lower than the core body temperature, so, something as simple as
changing the kind of underwear a man wears can make a difference. Testes
can overheat when a man wears tight wears or brief underwear.
“If the testes are too hot – several
degrees above where they should be – they are not able to produce
sufficient sperm, resulting in low sperm count. Just be aware, it takes
10 to 11 weeks for sperm to be produced, so dress and plan accordingly.”
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