SCI/TECH: Smoking and Drinking decrease Sperm Count

A recent study in Argentine showed evidence that men who both smoked and drank alcohol had a decreased level of sperm. However, the research showed than if a man did one or the other but not both there was no change.



Good think to keep in mind if you are trying to have a kid in the future.



[edit on 9-7-2004 by Valhall]

Its worse if you're female and trying to get pregnant.

Either smoking

A new study shows that women who smoke, and are trying for a baby, take longer to conceive than non-smokers.

However, if they quit, their chances of becoming pregnant quickly improve.

or drinking

While heavy drinking has long been known to hamper fertility, a study published in the British Medical Journal shows that even moderate consumption of alcohol can affect a woman's chances of conceiving.

can reduce the chances of becoming pregnant.

From news.bbc.co.uk...
and news.bbc.co.uk...

I didnt realsise that it was a new thing- i have known for ages that smoking and drinking affects both mens and womens fertility!!!!

They should both be made illegal- or stupidly expensive ( oh wait they already are!!!!)

ohhh dear
*shakes head* looks like my future isn't going to be bright

Originally posted by infinite
ohhh dear

*shakes head* looks like my future isn't going to be bright

Depends, do you like to Tom around? If your a player then . Im married with a child....... Hmmmmm maybe I should take up smoking, one kid in enough

Originally posted by FredT
Depends, do you like to Tom around? If your a player then

Well i do, but i aint a male whore

Lies, Lies I tell you! .....know from personal experience But I do love being a dad

I love when these kinds of studies come out. What was the sample size? Did the sample size involve EVERY SINGLE INDIVIDUAL drinking and smoking the same brand, same frequency, same amount, for the same duration? With each subject's variance from each of these factors, the power of the overall study decreases. Additionally, was the study conducted entirely in Argentina with an Argentinian population? Are such results appropriate to generalize to the rest of the world? What were the medical & prior substance abuse histories of the control group? I'm not denying that there may be a link between smoking, drinking, and decreased sperm count. However, the sweeping conclusions of this study do require a very well-designed research protocol in order to "prove" anything.

Let's look at the actual abstract from this research:

Fertil Steril. 2004 Aug;82(2):374-7. Related Articles, Links


Effects of alcohol and cigarette consumption on human seminal quality.

Martini AC, Molina RI, Estofan D, Senestrari D, Fiol de Cuneo M, Ruiz RD.

Instituto de Fisiologia, Facultad de Ciencias Medicas, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Cordoba, Argentina.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of alcohol or cigarette consumption on seminal parameters in a large population of men attending an andrology laboratory. DESIGN: Analysis of ten years of data (1990-1999). SETTING: Andrology and Reproduction Laboratory (Cordoba, Argentina). PATIENT(S): Patients (3,976) were grouped according to nonsmokers; 20 cigarettes/day; nonalcohol consumers; 500 mL of wine or equivalent/day. Patients who drank alcohol and smoked were also considered. INTERVENTION(S): A questionnaire was voluntarily filled out by patients. It provided data on drug consumption and genitourinary diseases. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Seminal volume, sperm concentration, motility, viability, and morphology. RESULTS: No statistical differences in seminal parameters were found between the degrees of alcohol or tobacco consumption; so, independently of the degree of consumption patients were considered as smokers or alcohol consumers. CONCLUSION(S): Alcohol or cigarette consumption did not alter the seminal parameters. Nevertheless, when the patients with these two habits were compared to those without these habits, a significant reduction in seminal volume, sperm concentration, percentage of motile spermatozoa, and a significant increase of the nonmotile viable gametes were detected. The synergic or additive effect of these two toxic habits is discussed.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

First, we don't know whether their control group was equal in number to their experimental group (which groups nonsmokers as anyone having under 20 cigarettes a day-- any ATS "non-smokers" smoke 19 cigs a day?).

Second, all data on substance abuse was collected via self-report questionnaire (which means that each subject, including nonsmokers + nondrinkers, had the potential to lie without having any medical confirmation of their nicotine or ethanol blood levels).

Third, "No statistical differences in seminal parameters were found between the degrees of alcohol or tobacco consumption; so, independently of the degree of consumption patients were considered as smokers or alcohol consumers". This is their result-- essentially they are saying that there was no differential abuse effect on seminal parameters. In other words, it doesn't matter how much or how little you use, there isn't a statistically significant effect. Given that there was no effect, the authors decided to group ALL tobacco & alcohol users together. This is a clear example of using dirty statistics (it is a more imprecise method of seeking a difference).

More research definitely needs to be done on this matter, this particular study is too shoddy to make such sweeping conclusions. Again-- I'm not denying that there may be an effect. However, I am denying the definitive conclusions that these researchers are making (as well as the generalization of their results to other populations outside of Argentina).

Perhaps Argentinians have a characteristic way of responding to self-report measures!

Finally: "the effects of alcohol or cigarette consumption on seminal parameters in a large population of men attending an andrology laboratory"

These men were already attending the andrology laboratory when they were approached for research. They were not solicited off the street. In other words, there was already a problem that brought them to the lab! Thus, this research can NOT be ethically generalized to males that are not presenting for treatment.

MK

[edit on 7-9-2004 by MKULTRA]

Wearing tight jeans and riding bicycles seems to affect it, too.

Why is it slobs running around drinking and smoking all the time seem to have more kids?

Finally - birth control for men! Sell it in a monthly pack with a few bottles of bourbon, a few cartons of cigarettes, and a pack of tightie-whities.

Doubt it decreases sperm count enough to matter except for those who are low to begin with. Who knows.. perhaps those men would never get a chance to use the sperm without the booze, so its the same difference.

Hmmm, I always thought that females drinking actually increased the chance of getting pregnant. Maybe certain factors were excluded from this study. If someone wanted to pay me thousands of dollars for another study, I could probably prove my theory.

i would imagine that will be good news to some folks!

Originally posted by orionthehunter
Hmmm, I always thought that females drinking actually increased the chance of getting pregnant. Maybe certain factors were excluded from this study. If someone wanted to pay me thousands of dollars for another study, I could probably prove my theory.

Sounds like a post for the thread on Legal Prostitution www.abovetopsecret.com...

Drunk females probably do increase the chance of conception - but more likely as a result of carelessness than biology.