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What’s your thing? Collecting viruses, hacking pro-Bush sites or writing Java script straight out of your head? How about building virtual empires to rival those of Darius, Alexander, the Caesars or the Pharaohs. No? Maybe you just like to razzle the night away in your Lizard King leather trousers or your coffin-kid black duds.
Whatever the case, here’s a word of warning: In your quest for gratification, remember to be cool – around your trouser-furniture, that is. Yup, just when you thought it was safe to look in your trousers again, here’s another threat to your todger – your laptop. Or those leather trousers you think makes you look smoove.
Heated crotch affects sperm health
Essentially, anything that builds up too much heat around your crotch area can affect the health of your sperm. So let’s say you’re 18 and not planning to breed for another decade. Should you worry? Well, sperm can bounce back from setback, but there’s no use sustaining a bad habit. Let’s start with your laptop.
Laptops can do you harm
They’re indispensable: You can bang out deathless prose, fiddle with spreadsheets or watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy, all with one machine.
Nobody’s suggesting you trade in yours for an abacus. Like all gadgets they come with drawbacks – it seems the heat generated by laptops is bad for your fertility. That’s if you sit with yours on your lap.
A study in the journal Human Reproduction details a study conducted at the University of New York at Stony Brook, where significant increases in the temperature of test subjects’ scrotums was noted when they used laptops.
One hopes they were well paid for having thermometers jabbed at their squishy bits. While some researchers say more research is needed before laptops are declared an 'enemy of the State of Parenthood', it’s long been known that excess heat it bad for sperm.
It’s for this reason that your scrotum holds your testicles away from your body – it’s cooler on the outside. The whole system is ingenious. Your balls swing free, with some air at least circulating around them. Step into bitterly cold water and your scrotum tightens, pulling the testicles up close to the body where it’s warmer – it also keeps them free of fish brandishing thermometers.
The solution? Don’t keep your laptop on your laptop for long. Work on a table. So if playing Doom on your PowerBook for four straight hours can mess up your little swimmers – not to mention your brain - what else can?
Clothing that heats you up
Nylon underpants, for a start. Or vinyl pants, or leather trousers, which are not only a bit of a fashion risk, but also don’t let air circulate around your nethers. Rock star style not only translates into poor aesthetics, it’s bad for your chances of reproduction
Other dangers
A number of studies have shown that exposure to pesticides can harm sperm health too. One study conducted in Spain linked the use of the pesticide endosulphane in vegetable growing to testicle problems among boys.
And smoking, that enemy of health in so many ways, can harm your fertility too. It’s another of those things formerly deemed to be cool that comes with a price. –
(William Smook)
