Pothead alert!: Down some coffee to perk up that burned out sperm

Coffee may not simply wake up the brain cells - it could also boost male fertility, new research suggests. Scientists have found that men who drink coffee have sperm that moves better than the sperm of those who lay off the caffeine.

Caffeine perks up sluggish sperm
By Maxine Frith
14 October 2003
Coffee may not simply wake up the brain cells - it could also boost male fertility, new research suggests.

Scientists have found that men who drink coffee have sperm that moves better than the sperm of those who lay off the caffeine. The study suggests that new coffee-based treatments should be developed for men with poor sperm movement - a defect that can cause fertility problems.

The findings will be presented later this week at the annual American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference in Texas.

Brazilian researchers tested the sperm motility - the strength and endurance of sperm as they swim towards the egg during fertilisation - of 750 men awaiting vasectomy operations. Doctor Fabio Pasqualotto, the lead researcher, said: “Sperm motility was higher in patients who drink coffee compared to patients who do not drink coffee.”

The researchers also found that smoking had neither a beneficial nor an adverse effect on sperm motility compared with the caffeine effect.

Doctor Euan Paul, spokesman for the Coffee Science Information Centre, said: “These findings are very exciting. There has been growing concern about sperm problems and about lack of fertility in particular.” Doctor Paul said that since caffeine acted as a stimulant on dopamine cells in the brain, helping people to concentrate, there was a possibility that sperm also experienced a boost when a man drank caffeine.

• New evidence that smoking cannabis can affect fertility, particularly in women, was also presented at the conference in San Antonio.

Scientists from New York University examined the sperm of 22 men who admitted smoking cannabis at least four times a week for the past five years. They found that the sperm may not be capable of the hyperactivity needed to fertilise the egg and also reduced the number and volume of sperm in men.

But women were found to be more seriously affected with toxins from the drug left in their reproductive tracts.

Doctor Simon Fischel, who heads the CARE fertility unit at Park Hospital in Notting-ham, said: “[Women] have a fixed egg production, which means any damage may be difficult to overcome.”

He added: “With men, providing there isn’t any damage to the stem cells responsible for sperm production, there may not be any lasting harm if they stop using the drug, because sperm is continually being made.”

Stay tuned for part 2 of this report, where they tell you that coffee makes you sterile.

[cough]

My little swimmin’ fellas are fine. The weed just helps them co-operate more. Perhaps this is just me being a stoner apologist, but the implication of permanent female reproductive problems sounds vaguely like the old myth that LSD damaged your chromosomes…

Besides, coffee makes me an aggro jerk. But that’s just me.

Hey Fatass!

Health - AP Features

Studies suggest excessive pot-smoking, body fat may hurt male fertility
Fri Oct 17, 2:10 AM ET

By T.A. BADGER, Associated Press Writer

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Men who want to be fathers should lay off the marijuana smoking and fast food, according to recent studies.

Two small studies presented to a fertility conference suggest that marijuana use and excessive body fat may make it harder for a man’s sperm to complete their upstream swim to fertilize an egg.

A study of 22 college students who were heavy marijuana users suggested their sperm moved too fast too soon and lost oomph before they could reach their destination — the egg.

“Sperm in semen are supposed to sit quietly and wait for their chance to get out of the semen,” said Dr. Lani Burkman, a researcher at the University of Buffalo. “The sperm of marijuana smokers when sitting in the semen were very, very active.”

The men studied smoked marijuana about twice a day.

Burkman said the effect on the sperm came from pot’s ingredients. She said earlier laboratory work indicates sperm generally can’t keep up an accelerated pace for more than six hours or so, while it may take 24 hours or longer to get to the uterus.

If the sperm swim vigorously early on, “they will not have this vigorous motility by the time they are getting somewhere close to the egg and will not be able to penetrate the egg,” Burkman said.

The research also found that the marijuana smokers had only about half as many sperm per volume of semen as the control group of men who did not smoke marijuana.

Burkman said it can take four to six months of marijuana abstinence for the sperm characteristics to return to normal.

Dr. Janice Bailey, a fertility researcher at Laval University in Quebec, said the conclusions of the marijuana study reinforce the point that men can make lifestyle choices to improve their chances of becoming a dad.

“People tend to look at women when there are difficulties with conception,” said Bailey. “This indicates that the health of both partners is important.”

Burkman said women who smoke marijuana were also vulnerable to lower fertility because pot’s ingredients pool up in the uterine fluids and affect the sperm.

Body fat, too, can be bad for making babies, according to another study presented to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine meeting this week.

Researchers at a fertility clinic in Atlanta examined 30 sperm samples and found that excess weight can lead to a lower sperm count and a higher number of sperm with damaged DNA.

William Roudebush, one of the researchers, said the effect was most pronounced for obese men, those with a body mass index greater than 30. A BMI of 25 or more is considered overweight. The body mass index is a measurement of weight compared to height.

Although BMI varies by person, someone who is 5 feet, 5 inches (165 centimeters) tall who weighs 150 pounds (68 kilograms) would normally have a BMI of 25. At a weight of 180 pounds (81 kilograms), this person’s BMI would normally be 30.

Roudebush said his clinic often advises heavier couples with fertility trouble to lose weight before trying an assisted reproduction procedure.

Lipshultz agreed with Roudebush that one explanation is that all that body fat on very heavy men creates “a lot of extra localized heat” in the groin area that can be detrimental to sperm.

I think the sperm are stoned and when they finally reach the egg, they realize it ain’t worth it.

Heh…

Actually, think about it: with PE and a longer dick, my [stoned] sperm will be swimming faster *and* have a shorter distance to go, thus conferring an evolutionary advantage! YES!

So in conclusion, P.E. + THC = manic & mean man-tadpoles…

PS- (Thank goodness I don’t eat fast food. The day they come up with truly vegetarian-friendly fast food in this country is the day I drop my bong in surprise.)

coffee makes me feel sick in any quantity!

And it also makes me feel more weird than cigarettes did! (I quit smoking for PE reasons)

does smoking weed effect testosterone in a bad way? i smoked it from the age of 11 every day heavily until 17,ive been wondering if this could be anything to do with me having a small penis.

Same here. Picked up an allergy to all caffeine a few years ago.

It’s a sad thing for a hacker.

Sorry to be the one to tell you, but it is thought that pot smoking during puberty may interfere with male sexual development. THC, like so many other biological compounds, bears a passing molecular resemblance to estrogen. Some researchers thought (a few years back when i last checked) that this might cause it to be bad for pubertal males. I haven’t heard of any conclusive studies on the subject.

thanks desol but the thing is although i smoked it so much i was still as horny as a motherfucker all through out my teens so do you think it still could have stunted its development?

Very well could be the reason. I don’t know though, I thought penis size had to do with growth hormones, not testosterone.

Smoking weed is always a bad thing, so I wonder how y’all can discuss something like that?

I was a crazy pot smoker, but now I smoke twice a month or perhaps less than that. It makes you lazy and depressive. Anyway I changed my way of life, now only sex, weightlifting, music and (violence) are my favourite drugs.

BTW when I was smoking a lot of, I lost a lot of my sexual desire during that time.
So once a month is OK and nice.

So can weed effect growth hormones then?