A recent three-year study conducted by researchers from the University of California at San Francisco has found that there is truth in the long-held belief that “wet heat” poses a danger to male fertility.
Test subjects who took part in the study conducted by researchers from UCSF found that their sperm counts rose dramatically when they stopped taking hot baths or using Jacuzzis, two common causes of “wet heat” exposure.
According to the Mayo Clinic Web site, the most common cause of male infertility is a varicocele, an enlargement of the veins in the scrotum, which can be directly affected by wet heat. One in five men have a varicocele, which develops over time, and the exposure to hot water multiplies the heat on the scrotum, which is naturally cool.
But UCSF researchers found that the effects of wet heat are not permanent. While the heat may affect the sperm’s mobility and slow it down, the male body creates hundreds of thousands of sperm every minute. Simply taking showers or refraining from hot tub use can help increase a man’s fertility.
Heidi Burkey, a health educator at the Student Health Center, said although she specializes more in fertility rather than infertility, she understands the importance of these findings to college students.
“Our campus is so diverse,” Burkey said. “We have college students that are all different ages, so it affects many students, which is not to say that an 18- or 19-year-old isn’t trying to get pregnant.”
Burkey noted that the study is not particularly complete, as it was conducted with only 11 test subjects. The small sample size makes it difficult to come to a conclusive result. This fact was not lost on Dushan Perera, a freshman English major.
“There doesn’t seem to be enough evidence proving that it works,” Perera said.
Beyond that fact, however, Perera said she sees the merit of this study.
“If a guy is having trouble getting his wife pregnant, it wouldn’t hurt to try it out,” he said. “Your life isn’t going to be that affected if you try it.”
Another problem affecting male fertility that was found by the UCSF researchers is one that may carry more relevance to most college students. Of the six test subjects who showed no improvement after reducing wet heat, five of the men were chronic smokers. There are hundreds of chemicals found in cigarettes, and any of them may be the cause of reduction in volume and quality of the sperm.
The irony of this wasn’t lost on Chris Lim, an undeclared sophomore.
“Smokers get screwed either way,” Lim said. “They get cancer and stupid sperm.”
Smoking and wet heat are only two of the many activities a person can undertake that will reduce their fertility. Using laptops and wearing tight underwear can also have an affect, according to the Brazilian Society of Urology.
“These activities can be comfortably added to that list of lifestyle recommendations and ‘things to avoid’ as men attempt to conceive,” said Dr. Paul Turek, the director of the UCSF Male Reproductive Health Center and leader of the study. “Couples really prefer having kids at home and not with technology. This is a way to help them do that.”
Perera said, “What’s more important, children or hot tubs? You’ve got to make the choice.”
