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.

"It is just like using a toothbrush but mobiles could be having a devastating effect on fertility. It still has to be proved but it could have a huge impact because mobiles are so much part of our lives."

Phone the doctor: Men who use mobile phones could face increased risk of infertility

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=412179&in_page_id=1770

He said mobile phone use may be a marker for other lifestyle factors known to affect sperm quality.

"Maybe people who use a phone for four hours a day spend more time sitting in cars, which could mean there’s a heat issue. It could be they are more stressed, or more sedentary and sit about eating junk food getting fat. Those seem to be better explanations than a phone causing the damage at such a great distance" he added.

yea i heard bout this along time
that a men who uses a mobile phone for more than 3 -4hrs straight are
at risk

who knows how tru it is
i mean ppl jus say things nowaday

they said, men sitting at the offices involves their scrotums getting heat which might get them into low sperm count

hmmm

i hope it aint all tru

for the sake of men who want to hv babies someday

i like ur spirit

What won't i hear on nairaland??

Tomorrow we'll hear that women who use hair-dryers more than once a week won't be able to bear children LOL

God help us

cute-ass:

What won't i hear on nairaland??

Tomorrow we'll hear that women who use hair-dryers more than once a week won't be a able to bear children LOL

God help us

Ohh you havent ALREADY heard that?? Darling, come on now. . . I would espect you to know that's true.

lol. . . . Okay just kidding, but seriously i agree with you. What won't i hear??

Anyways sha, I say all men should stop holding phones to their ears, that's why we have ear-pieces. Abi what do y'all think?

hot-angel:

Ohh you havent ALREADY heard that?? Darling, come on now. . . I would espect you to know that's true.

@ hot-angel, you really had me going with that line, i almost had my heart in my tommy LOL

Well i think the ear-piece suggestion is brilliant, it actually makes people look. . . eem. . .what's the word. . . ehe sophisticated kind of. But i prefer the one without the long wire(you know what i mean? without extensions attached to the phone, so you avoid being hooked to everything that come your way) What d'you think??

ladies na waooo na de fear?

very funny