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Marijuana Use May Lower Sperm Counts 'quite A Lot' by frankg1(m): 1:19pm On Aug 29, 2015 |
Smoking marijuana more than once a week
may lower men's sperm counts by about a
third, according to a new study.
Researchers found that the men in the study
who smoked marijuana more than once a week
had sperm counts that were 29 percent lower,
on average, than those who did not smoke
marijuana , or used the drug less frequently.
The researchers thought that amount of
reduction in sperm count "was quite a lot,"
said study author Tina Kold Jensen, of the
University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
They also found that the sperm concentrations
(which is measured slightly differently than
sperm count) were 28 percent lower in the
men who smoked marijuana more than once a
week.
It is not clear why marijuana use may decrease
a man's sperm count and concentration, but it
may have something to do with how THC —
marijuana's psychoactive ingredient —
interacts with certain receptors in the testes,
the researchers said.
In the study, the researchers asked 1,215
Danish men ages 18 to 28 whether they used
marijuana and other drugs like amphetamine,
ecstasy and cocaine within the past three
months, and if so, how often. [11 Odd Facts
About Marijuana ]
The researchers also collect semen samples, to
measure the men's sperm counts and
concentrations.
About 45 percent of the men in the study said
they had smoked marijuana in the past three
months. About 10 percent of the study
participants had used marijuana as well as
recreational drugs during this time.
Moreover, in the men in the study who smoked
marijuana and used other recreational drugs,
the sperm counts were reduced by 55 percent,
and the sperm concentrations were reduced by
52 percent, compared with men who hadn't
used the drugs.
The researchers found that the men who had
smoked marijuana in the past three months
were also more likely to smoke cigarettes, and
consumed more alcohol and caffeine than
those who had not.
These lifestyle factors also could have affected
the men's sperm levels, so the researchers
took them into account, and the link between
marijuana and lower sperm levels held.
However, the study still does not prove that
the drug caused the lower sperm counts,
Jensen said.
"We cannot exclude the possibility that the
men who used marijuana generally have an
unhealthier lifestyle and health behavior,
which may also affect their semen quality and
hormone levels," the researchers said in the
study.
"It is … important to note that marijuana users
were distinct in several ways from nonusers,"
Dr. Michael L. Eisenberg of Stanford University
School of Medicine , who was not involved in
the new study, wrote in an editorial
accompanying the study in the journal. And
although the researchers adjusted for these
differences, such as higher rates of cigarette
smoking and alcohol consumption, they could
have still confounded the potential effects of
marijuana on sperm , he wrote.
Still, the new study "provides important
information for patients and providers
regarding the negative association between
marijuana use and semen quality," Eisenberg
wrote.
The study was published Aug. 16 in the
American Journal of Epidemiology. |
(1) (Reply)
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