Marijuana, pot, weed, dro, pac, bud, or whatever you may call it is increasingly becoming more popular in the United States. Whether for medicinal or recreational purposes, more Americans, specifically younger adults have taken up using marijuana. However, many people are unsure of the effects it has on your body. One of the more famous rumors is that smoking marijuana lowers your sperm count. Could this possibly be true?
In a study done by the University of Buffalo, researchers examined the affect smoking marijuana had on sperm. To measure this, researchers examined two separate groups. The sperm of a control group of 59, and the sperm of an experimental group of 22. The volunteers of the control group were fertile men who produced at least one pregnancy in the past and who were not sexually active in the past two days. The volunteers of the experimental group admitted to smoking marijuana at least 14 times a week for at least 5 years. The results were pretty alarming. The tests revealed that the people who smoked marijuana had significantly less sperm in their seamen. In addition, there was also a decrease in the sperm’s hyperactiviation (HA), which is a specific type of swimming sperm does that is required before fertilizing an egg. The results were also the same once the dead sperm were removed.
There are other studies that share similar conclusions as well. In a study done by the American Journal of Epidemiology, 1,215 young men between the ages 18-28 were recruited to test the affects of marijuana on sperm. According to the study, 45% of the young men reported smoking marijuana within the last three months. The tests returned some shocking numbers. The people who smoked more than once a week had a 28% lower sperm concentration and a 29% lower sperm count than the non smokers. Both of those numbers are almost a third!
With every conclusion there is always a possibility of it just happening by chance, but this is not likely. Over a thousand people were tested between the two studies, so the numbers are there. However, more testing should be performed to know for sure, but for the time being, it is probably a good idea to not smoke marijuana if you plan on having a kid.
Sources:
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/08/16/aje.kwv135.abstract
http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2003/10/6427.html
This article was news to me as I had never heard of marijuana reducing sperm count. I had heard rumors that marijuana caused a lower sperm count but I had not seen evidence from studies that show a correlation between the two. As mentioned in the comment before this one, is it possible that there are other factors that could casue a reduced sperm count that are not being accounted for? While it is not indefintitely concluslive this study does seem to lean torwards the correlation that marijuana lowers a man’s sperm count. This could be potentially good news for college-aged stoners who want to further reduce their risk of accidently getting a girl pregnant though.
I found this article very interesting to read and also the results very surprising. I have never heard about these results until I read your blog post. When the study was conducted did they take into account other things that could lower sperm count? For example, people say that drinking mountain dew can lower your sperm count. Do you think that participants in this study could be avid mountain dew drinkers, therefore making them have a lower sperm count. Not saying that mountain dew is the only variable that could effect sperm count, but that is just one of example of something that should have been accounted for.