LAPTOP PLACING ON LAP CAUSES LOW SPERM COUNT:
Teenage boys and men should think twice before placing a laptop on their laps as they can lower sperm counts and reduce your chances of fathering a child. If you are male, thinking about having a family, or even a decade away from planning a family, you may be better off placing your laptop on a desk.
The increasing popularity of laptop, coupled with existing evidence that elevated temperature can result in sperm damage, prompted researchers from the State University of New York at Stony Brook to undertake the first study into the effect of heat from Laptop on scrotal temperature.
The findings are reported in Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction. They show that using an Laptop on the lap increased the left scrotal temperature by a median 2.6°C and the right by a median 2.8°C. Several previous studies have shown that increases in testicular or scrotal temperatures of between 1°C and 2.9°C are associated with a sustained and considerable negative effect on spermatogenesis and fertility.
Laptops can reach internal operating temperatures of over 70°C. They are frequently positioned close to the scrotum, and as well as being capable of producing direct local heat, they require the user to sit with his thighs close together to balance the machine, which traps the scrotum between the thighs.
The researchers worked with 29 healthy volunteers aged 21 to 35, measuring scrotal temperatures with and without laptops. Two one-hour sessions of scrotal temperature measurements were performed on different days in the same room with a median room temperature of 22.28°C. The men were dressed in the same casual clothing for each session and sessions with and without Laptop were conducted at the same time of the day. Body temperature was taken by mouth beforehand and each volunteer spent 15 minutes standing in the room to adjust to room temperature before being seated. A non-working Laptop was placed on the lap so that the volunteer could adopt the right position to balance the laptop, then removed, and the seating position held for one hour, with scrotal temperature being measured every three minutes. The same procedure was repeated for one hour, with the same baselines controls, but this time with a working laptop. The temperature of the bottom surface of the Laptop was also measured at intervals.
The findings are reported in Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction. They show that using an Laptop on the lap increased the left scrotal temperature by a median 2.6°C and the right by a median 2.8°C. Several previous studies have shown that increases in testicular or scrotal temperatures of between 1°C and 2.9°C are associated with a sustained and considerable negative effect on spermatogenesis and fertility.
Laptops can reach internal operating temperatures of over 70°C. They are frequently positioned close to the scrotum, and as well as being capable of producing direct local heat, they require the user to sit with his thighs close together to balance the machine, which traps the scrotum between the thighs.
The researchers worked with 29 healthy volunteers aged 21 to 35, measuring scrotal temperatures with and without laptops. Two one-hour sessions of scrotal temperature measurements were performed on different days in the same room with a median room temperature of 22.28°C. The men were dressed in the same casual clothing for each session and sessions with and without Laptop were conducted at the same time of the day. Body temperature was taken by mouth beforehand and each volunteer spent 15 minutes standing in the room to adjust to room temperature before being seated. A non-working Laptop was placed on the lap so that the volunteer could adopt the right position to balance the laptop, then removed, and the seating position held for one hour, with scrotal temperature being measured every three minutes. The same procedure was repeated for one hour, with the same baselines controls, but this time with a working laptop. The temperature of the bottom surface of the Laptop was also measured at intervals.