Sunday, June 5, 2011

Fact Checking: Cell phone causes 29% drop in British Fertility for Men

While I was skiing in Mt. Shasta this week a friend of mine was upset to find out that 75% of a man's sperm was killed by wearing a cell phone 4 hours a day. Unfortunately when I fact checked this on Google it was different than that. I will also try to correct the information in any article I wrote. Here are the actual facts:

Men who use mobile phones face increased risk of infertility

by JENNY HOPE
Last updated at 21:01 23 October 2006


Phone the doctor: Men who use mobile phones could face increased risk of infertility
Men who use mobile phones could be risking their fertility, warn researchers.
A new study shows a worrying link between poor sperm and the number of hours a day that a man uses his mobile phone.
Those who made calls on a mobile phone for more than four hours a day had the worst sperm counts and the poorest quality sperm, according to results released yest at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting in New Orleans.
Doctors believe the damage could be caused by the electromagnetic radiation emitted by handsets or the heat they generate.
The findings suggest millions of men may encounter difficulties in fathering a child due to the widespread use of mobile phones and offers another possible explanation for plummeting fertility levels among British males.
Sperm counts among British men have fallen by 29 per cent over the past decade, a drop which has also been blamed on increasing obesity, smoking, stress, pollution and 'gender-bending' chemicals which disrupt the hormone system.
The latest study backs up previous research which indicated a link between mobile phone use and sperm quality, but it is the biggest and best designed to date.
US researchers in Cleveland and New Orleans, and doctors in Mumbai, India, looked at more than 360 men undergoing checks at a fertility clinic who were classified into three groups according to their sperm count.
Men who used a mobile for more than four hours a day had a 25 per cent lower sperm count than men who never used a mobile.
The men with highest usage also had greater problems with sperm quality, with the swimming ability of sperm - a crucial factor in conception - down by a third.
They had a 50 per cent drop in the number of properly formed sperm, with just one-fifth looking normal under a microscope.
Professor Ashok Agarwal, director of the Reproductive Research Centre at the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, who led the study, said "Almost a billion people are using cell phones around the world and the number is growing in many countries at 20 to 30 per cent a year.
"In another five years the number is going to double. People use mobile phones without thinking twice what the consequences may be.

end quote. 

So to summarize the above if I pull out the most disturbing facts they are: 
A new study shows a worrying link between poor sperm and the number of hours a day that a man uses his mobile phone.
Those who made calls on a mobile phone for more than four hours a day had the worst sperm counts and the poorest quality sperm, according to results released yest at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting in New Orleans.

The findings suggest millions of men may encounter difficulties in fathering a child due to the widespread use of mobile phones and offers another possible explanation for plummeting fertility levels among British males.
Sperm counts among British men have fallen by 29 per cent over the past decade, a drop which has also been blamed on increasing obesity, smoking, stress, pollution and 'gender-bending' chemicals which disrupt the hormone system.

said local heating of the groin triggered by a mobile phone might also be involved in affecting sperm quality.


"Sperm is very temperature sensitive as shown by many studies, and a short-term rise in temperature could be responsible" he added.
However, Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said "This is a good quality study but I don?t think it tackles the issue.
"If you?re using your phone for four hours a day, presumably it is out of your pocket for longer. That raises a big question: how is it that testicular damage is supposed to occur?"
He said mobile phone use may be a marker for other lifestyle factors known to affect sperm quality.

he (said) men with highest usage also had greater problems with sperm quality, with the swimming ability of sperm - a crucial factor in conception - down by a third.
They had a 50 per cent drop in the number of properly formed sperm, with just one-fifth looking normal under a microscope.


 end quotes.

So anyway you look at it cell phones are affecting the quality of sperm and the quality of the children born on earth to those who use cellphones. This appears to be the case.

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