Want To Be A Dad? Stop Bouncing A Laptop On Your Knee

The Age

Friday December 10, 2004

STEPHEN CAUCHI, SCIENCE REPORTER, with AGENCIES

YOUNG males, take note - your laptop computer could hurt your chances of becoming a father.

American research has warned that laptops warm male genitals to the point where infertility could result.

The research by Stony Brook University Hospital, in New York, found laptops, which reach high internal temperatures, can affect the quality and quantity of sperm.

The study's lead author, Yefim Sheynkin, said it was difficult to predict how long the computers could be used without damaging men's reproductive capacity.

For some men, the increase in testicular temperature could be so great that they were simply not safe to use.

Dr Sheynkin, an associate professor of urology at the State University of New York, said men who used laptops several times a day for many years faced the greatest risk.

"Long-term use may have a detrimental effect on their reproductive health," he said. "It may cause irreversible or partially reversible changes in male reproductive function."

Dr Sheynkin and his team studied the impact of using a laptop on 29 healthy volunteers aged 21 to 35 by measuring their scrotal temperature before and after they used a computer on their lap.

Even before the volunteers turned their computers on, their scrotal temperature rose 2.1 degrees, simply because they were sitting with their thighs together.

This rose to a 2.8-degree rise on the right side and 2.6 degrees on the left when the computer was switched on.

"It shows that scrotal hyperthermia is produced by both special body posture and the local heating effect of laptop computers," said Dr Sheynkin, who published his finding in the journal Human Reproduction.

Until there was further research, teenage boys and young men might want to limit the use of computers on their laps, he said.

Past studies have suggested that higher scrotal temperatures caused by such things as tight underwear, prolonged car driving, hot baths and exercise, can damage sperm and affect fertility. Other causes may include pesticides, smoking and obesity.

Mark Scott, 28, of Sydney, a regular laptop user, expressed surprise at the study's findings.

"I've heard of stories about loose underwear and tight underwear, but whether it's an old wives' tale or not, I don't know," he said. Mr Scott, an engineering consultant not yet trying to have children, said he often placed the laptop on its case as it made typing easier, or used it on a desk. -- with AGENCIES

WHAT TO AVOID IF YOU PLAN TO REMAIN FERTILE

? Tight underwear

? Tight jeans

? Hot baths

? Occupational exposure to heat

? Recent fever

? Exercise

? Laptops

© 2004 The Age

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