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Habits of cell phone usage and sperm quality

rbmojournal.com

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Re: Habits of cell phone usage and sperm quality

#2
>> a non-significantly higher rate of abnormal sperm concentration was found (47.1% versus 11.1%).

As someone contemplating a vasectomy, that's not quite the result I was hoping for. Sure would be easier to just keep my phone in my front pocket. Though, I suppose I'm not really sure what "abnormal" sperm end up doing. It's kind of implied that means they just don't work when the abstract starts out "Male infertility constitutes 30–40% of all infertility cases." but what if those sperm cause birth defects instead? Seems like that's a far from ideal result as well. As always... "Investigation using large-scale studies is thus needed."

Re: Habits of cell phone usage and sperm quality

#3
Would need to see the full article to find out the size of their sample, but their confidence intervals are quite tight for a study of this nature, and they add in the caveat of further research being needed. This should be a least a warning correlation for cell phone users, and will make me rethink some of my usage habits.

Re: Habits of cell phone usage and sperm quality

#4
post #3

Would need to see the full article to find out the size of their sample, but their confidence intervals are quite tight for a study of this nature, and they add in the caveat of further research being needed. This should be a least a warning correlation for cell phone users, and will make me rethink some of my usage habits.

Or the 5th sentence of the abstract:

> Questionnaires accessing demographic data and characteristics of cell phone usage were completed by 106 men referred for semen analysis

And this article isn't recommending a change in behavior, only further study:

> Investigation using large-scale studies is thus needed.

Re: Habits of cell phone usage and sperm quality

#5
Good! There's too many of us already.

6.8 billion phones today means 6.8 billion pieces of high tech garbage a couple of years later, leaking all kinds of toxic shit into the water, plus 6.8 billion new devices manufactured while digging up all kinds of precious materials out of the ground and using oil to transport them all over the world, then burning coal, heating oil and natural gas to melt and glue shit together, and then burn more oil to transport the finished devices to customers all over the world.

That helps climate change, which leads to droughts in places like Brazil, determining people to use bathtubs to catch every drop of rain, were mosquitos breed and then fly around spreading Zika.

More phones and more porn, that's what's needed for a happy future.

/sarcasm

Re: Habits of cell phone usage and sperm quality

#6
Other studies show significantly decreased mobility and sperm quality as well (some in-vitro with microscope).

Anecdotally, I'm quite confident this was a factor with our 2nd child. With our 1st, I didn't own a cell phone and he was conceived literally the first try.

I bought a smart phone when he was 1, which I carried in my pocket. A few years later, we wanted another child - tried for 10 months with no results! Frustrating. I randomly found some studies covering this exact subject in mid July. I started putting my phone into my backpack. August, our 2nd was on his way.

For anyone who's having troubles, I would strongly advise to take the phone out of your pocket. It might even be best for everyone to do so - who knows the long term effects.

Re: Habits of cell phone usage and sperm quality

#8

Good! There's too many of us already. 6.8 billion phones today means 6.8 billion pieces of high tech garbage a couple of years later, leaking all kinds of toxic shit into the water, plus 6.8 billion new devices manufactured while digging up all kinds of precious materials out of the ground and using oil to transport them all over the world, then burning coal, heating oil and natural gas to melt and glue shit together…

It really is disgusting how temporary cellphones are built. Where are the modular personal computers?

Re: Habits of cell phone usage and sperm quality

#9
post #3

Would need to see the full article to find out the size of their sample, but their confidence intervals are quite tight for a study of this nature, and they add in the caveat of further research being needed. This should be a least a warning correlation for cell phone users, and will make me rethink some of my usage habits.

this study is virtually useless from statistical point of view. Sampling bias, lack of control for confounding effects and other issues mean you should not in any way use this study as a guide for any changes in behavior. Sure, I understand, they did add a caveat that more study is needed. Just saying, do not use this study as a reason to do anything differently

Re: Habits of cell phone usage and sperm quality

#10
post #6

Other studies show significantly decreased mobility and sperm quality as well (some in-vitro with microscope). Anecdotally, I'm quite confident this was a factor with our 2nd child. With our 1st, I didn't own a cell phone and he was conceived literally the first try. I bought a smart phone when he was 1, which I carried in my pocket. A few years later, we wanted another child - tried for 10 months with no results! Fr…

The long term effects _could_ be lower rates of cancer, so taking this advice would be a bad idea.

I've pretty much always had my phone in my pocket for the last 15 years. Two years ago, my wife and I had a child - no problems. I'm not saying you're right or wrong, but you need a much greater pool of data before making claims.

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