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Spending too many hours in front of a screen cuts sperm count in half: Harvard

Has wanting to become a parent crossed your mind lately, or has your partner initiated the conversation about having babies? If so, we've got some bad news for you, because according to a study Harvard's study, spending more than 20 hours a week in front of the TV reduces sperm count.

While other medical factors are important for healthy, abundant sperm, spending at least 20 hours a week sitting on a couch watching TV can reduce sperm count by almost half.

Among the hypotheses that attempt to explain why watching TV reduces sperm production are that too many hours on the couch increases the temperature in the scrotum, and sperm need lower temperatures to form properly. 

This was the conclusion of scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), who investigated whether overall human quality decreases with sedentary life.

To reach this conclusion, the scientists studied 189 men between the ages of 18 and 22, who were asked about their daily habits: physical activity such as exercise, diet, stress levels, alcohol and tobacco consumption, and the hours they spent watching TV.

"We found that those who watched more TV, their sperm count was 44 percent lower, compared to those who did at least 15 hours of physical activity a week, who recorded a 73 percent increase," Audrey Gaskin, head of the study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, told BBC Mundo.

Semen quality was evaluated by observing sperm concentration, motility, morphology and sperm count.

Now, such a situation also occurs when holding a laptop on the legs and working for long hours on them. 

On the other hand, another studyThe results of a study, but this time conducted by the University of California, San Francisco, confirmed that baths in very hot water can reduce semen motility.

So long relaxation sessions in the tub or Jacuzzi should be reduced when you are thinking about becoming a dad. 

The analysis confirmed that men who abandoned the routine of taking 30-minute hot baths a week saw their sperm motility improve by 49 percent after three to six months.

It should be taken into account that other factors besides hyperthermia -increased body temperature- can affect male fertility, such as smoking, poor diet and stress. The good news is that the condition is reversible by stopping these habits for a while.

You may be interested in: Headache, having sex may be the solution

Pamela Cruz
Pamela Cruz
Editor-in-Chief of Peninsula 360 Press. A communicologist by profession, but a journalist and writer by conviction, with more than 10 years of media experience. Specialized in medical and scientific journalism at Harvard and winner of the International Visitors Leadership Program scholarship from the U.S. government.

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