Saturday 10 December 2011

Wi-Fi Laptops Harm Sperm Motility And Increase Sperm DNA Fragmentation


Males who place a laptop on their laps with the WI-FI on might have a greater risk of reduced sperm motility and more sperm DNA fragmentation, which could, in theory, undermine their chances of becoming fathers, researchers from Nascentis Medicina Reproductiva, Argentina, and the Eastern Virginia Medical School, USA, reported in the journal Fertility and Sterility this week. Sperm motility refers to the percentage of sperm in a semen sample that are moving - normally, a high percentage of all sperm should be moving (thrashing their tails and swimming).

This study was done in an artificial setting. The male participants were not tested with the laptops on their laps - semen samples were taken, placed under laptops for four hours, and then analyzed.

Previous studies had already shown that placing a laptop on a man's lap could potentially affect his fertility, especially if this occurs frequently and for long periods. The laptop can cause scrotal hyperthermia (elevated testicle temperature), which can considerably affect the quality of his sperm (Link to 2010 study).

In this new study, the authors explain that not only might the laptop-on-lap undermine semen quality, but also the Wi-Fi, if the laptop is near semen. They found that there was less damage when there was no Wi-Fi signal than when there was.

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