(Israeli hightech entrepeneur Yossi Vardi delivers a TED Talk about the dangers of blogging for men. An inconvenient truth called Local Warming.)
It could be something out of the worst nightmare of a Woody Allen flick like “Everything you wanted to know about sex but are afraid to ask.”
But there may be truth in some recent findings about a radical reduction in male sperm count by Dr. Ronit Haimov Kochman from Hadassah Hospital’s Mt. Scopus campus in Jerusalem.
The study was conducted between 2004 and 2008, and found that the amount of sperm in Israeli males who took part in the study has dropped by a whopping 40% over a decade earlier. Environmental factors, including cell phone use, are to blame.
Why this has happened appears to be due to a number reasons including changes in diet (more use of alcohol, eating fast foods, etc.) as well as increased use of cellular phones.
The increased use of cell phones appear to be one of the most acute reasons for loss of male sperm count, that in males studied, dropped from 107 million sperm cells per cubic cm of “test fluid,” or semen, to only 67 million. That means a drop of the little squiggly rascals of around 40%.
Radiation from cell phones, especially those carried in one pockets (hey, where else are we going to carry one?) seem to be especially good at zapping the li’l critters; but even the water the people drink seems to have an effect as well.
What’s even more worrisome is that not only the number of sperm has dropped significantly but the quality as well; which could have an effect on ones with XY chromosomes that are supposed to involved in producing male offspring and are said to be more vulnerable to conditions while en route to the ova in the female body.
Dr. Haimov-Kochman went on to say that if this keeps up, male sperm count will be down to only around 20 million per cubic cm by the year 2030, which will have a definite effect on human reproduction.
It also appears that hormone imbalance may also be a factor as too much female estrogen hormones also has a role in problems dealing with human reproduction. Many men acquire female estrogen hormones when they get older which often accounts for problems with the prostate gland, larger breasts in men, and even prostate cancer. The increase in estrogen hormones, including that in women also seems to be effected by diet, including eating certain fruits and animals given estrogen to increase milk production. And of course, the use of estrogen-packed birth control pills used by women, and which make their way to our drinking water, isn’t helping the situation either.
Prof. Levenfeld, head of the Israel Fertility Institute at Beersheva’s Soroka Medical Center, added that there appears to be an overall reduction in male sperm counts and sperm quality all over the world, also as the result of conditions similar to those in Israeli men involved in the study.
Before making definite conclusions, however, Prof. Levenfeld suggested that studies be made on a new group of test subjects who don’t zap their privates with cell phone radiation and who eat a more healthy diet. If anyone reading this article saw the movie Children of Men which portrayed a childless world in about the year 2030, the future might seem be very chilling indeed.
Author: Maurice Picow
Maurice Picow grew up in Oklahoma City, U.S.A., where he received a B.S. Degree in Business Administration. Following graduation, Maurice embarked on a career as a real estate broker before making the decision to move to Israel. After arriving in Israel, he came involved in the insurance agency business and later in the moving and international relocation fields. Maurice became interested in writing news and commentary articles in the late 1990’s, and now writes feature articles for the The Jerusalem Post as well as being a regular contributor to Green Prophet. He has also written a non-fiction study on Islam, a two volume adventure novel, and is completing a romance novel about a forbidden love affair. Writing topics of particular interest for Green Prophet are those dealing with global warming and climate change, as well as clean technology - particularly electric cars.
It seems premature to single out one specific cause, like cell phones, although, no doubt, they play a role.
It seems more probable that overall toxins (the agro-chemical industry in Israel is for historical-economical reasons extremely powerful, even more than in other countries), radiations and inhaled/ingested hot particles (radioactive dust, depleted uranium and so) are a major cause.
Will be giving you link love here shortly, on a piece about radiation exposure and sperm. Good reporting and thanks!
An article on this topic was published in Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090612202347.htm
One of the top associations was laptop use among teenage males, which causes heating that impacts sperm production and development. Other causes that were mentioned include other sources of heat, unhealthy diets, lack of sleep and exercise, and exposure to alcohol, drugs and toxins.
No mention of cellular phones – maybe the Israeli studies were confounded by the hihg correlation between laptop and mobile phone use. As mentioned above, certainly needs more study – but singling out mobile phones is premature.
No comments on this piece so far? Then I guess everybody accepts the future as noted….