| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Urbanhog
moderator
Joined: 22 Apr 2003
Posts: 338
Location: Tropical Queensland, Australia
|
 Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2003 5:26 pm Post subject: Sperm From Marijuana Smokers Move Too Fast Too Early! |
 |
|
| Quote: |
Sperm From Marijuana Smokers Move Too Fast Too Early, Impairing Fertility, UB Research Shows
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Men who smoke marijuana frequently have significantly less seminal fluid, a lower total sperm count and their sperm behave abnormally, all of which may affect fertility adversely, a new study in reproductive physiology at the University at Buffalo has shown.
This study is the first to assess marijuana's effects on specific swimming behavior of sperm from marijuana smokers and to compare the results with sperm from men with confirmed fertility. Marijuana contains the cannabinoid drug THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is its primary psychoactive chemical, as well as other cannabinoids.
Results of the study were presented today (Oct. 13, 2003) at the annual meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine in San Antonio.
"The bottom line is, the active ingredients in marijuana are doing something to sperm, and the numbers are in the direction toward infertility," said Lani J. Burkman, Ph.D., lead author on the study. Burkman is assistant professor of gynecology/obstetrics and urology and head of the Section on Andrology in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. UB's andrology laboratory also carries out sophisticated diagnosis for infertile couples.
"We don't know exactly what is happening to change sperm functioning," said Burkman, "but we think it is one of two things: THC may be causing improper timing of sperm function by direct stimulation, or it may be bypassing natural inhibition mechanisms. Whatever the cause, the sperm are swimming too fast too early." This aberrant pattern has been connected to infertility in other studies, she noted.
Burkman collaborated on earlier, published UB research that was the first to show that human sperm contains cannabinoid receptors, and that the naturally occurring cannabinoid, anandamide, which activates cannabinoid receptors in the brain and other organs, also activates receptors in sperm. This evidence indicated an important role in reproduction for natural cannabinoids.
Further research in the andrology laboratory showed that human sperm exposed to high levels of THC displayed abnormal changes in the sperm enzyme cap, called the acrosome. When researchers tested synthetic anandamide equivalents on human sperm, the normal vigorous swimming patterns were changed and the sperm showed reduced ability to attach to the egg before fertilization. Only about 10 laboratories in the U.S. perform this array of sperm function tests.
In the current study, Burkman received seminal fluid from 22 confirmed marijuana smokers and subjected the samples to a variety of tests. The volunteers reported smoking marijuana approximately 14 times a week, and for an average of 5.1 years.
Control numbers were obtained from 59 fertile men who had produced a pregnancy. All men abstained from sexual activity for two days before the lab analysis.
The samples from both groups were tested for volume, sperm-count-per-unit of seminal fluid, total sperm count, percent of sperm that was moving, velocity and sperm shape. Sperm also were assessed for an important function called hyperactivation (HA), a closely regulated and very vigorous type of swimming that is required as the sperm approaches the egg. The researchers evaluated HA and velocity while the sperm was in seminal fluid and again after washing and incubation, when the dead sperm were eliminated.
Results showed that both the volume of seminal fluid and the total number of sperm from marijuana smokers were significantly less than for fertile control men. Significant differences also appeared when HA and velocity, both before and after washing, were assessed, the study found.
"The sperm from marijuana smokers were moving too fast too early," said Burkman. "The timing was all wrong. These sperm will experience burnout before they reach the egg and would not be capable of fertilization."
Burkman noted that many men who smoke marijuana have fathered children. "The men who are most affected likely have naturally occurring borderline fertility potential, and THC from marijuana may push them over the edge into infertility," she said.
As to the question of whether fertility potential returns when smokers stop using marijuana: Burkman said the issue hasn't been studied well enough to provide a definitive answer.
"THC remains stored in fat for a long period, so the process may be quite slow. We can't say that everything will go back to normal. Most men who have borderline fertility are unaware of that fact. It's difficult to know who is at risk. I definitely would advise anyone trying to conceive not to smoke marijuana, and that would include women as well as men."
Additional scientists on the study included Herbert Schuel, Ph.D., UB professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, and the staff of the andrology laboratory. |
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031014071905.htm
_________________
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
--Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad (1869) |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Ferre
Cannabis Sacrament Minister.
Joined: 14 Apr 2003
Posts: 7295
Location: Amsterdam
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2003 6:20 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Yeah, another load of crap the U.S. government wants us to believe, there's more to read about the subject :
| Quote: |
Marijuana Myths
http://webhome.idirect.com/~orbitz/main/marijuana-myths.html
Marijuana lowers testosterone and causes sterility
http://www.norml.org/facts/myths.shtml
Government experts also concede that pot has no permanent effect on the male or female
reproductive systems.1 A few studies have suggested that heavy marijuana use may have a
reversible, suppressive effect on male testicular function.2 A recent study by Dr.
Robert Block has refuted earlier research suggesting that pot lowers testosterone or
other sex hormones in men or women.3 In contrast, heavy alcohol drinking is known to
lower testosterone levels and cause impotence. A couple of lab studies indicated that
very heavy marijuana smoking might lower sperm counts. However, surveys of chronic
smokers have turned up no indication of infertility or other abnormalities.
marijuana myths and jokes
http://www.marijuana.nl/myths_jokes.php
These Marijuana Myths Have Been Refuted
http://www.mapinc.org/letters/2003/08/lte139.html
Hemp and Marijuana: Myths & Realities
http://www.globalhemp.com/Archives/FAQ/myths_and_realities.html
Marijuana: Myth or Miracle
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/kicker/mary.html
Comments...Sperm from Marijuana Smokers Move Faster
gutter science
No credible researcher familiar with statistics and the term "null hypothesis" would
design an experiment with a mismatched control group such as this. By "cherry-picking"
fertile men for the controls, rather than non-cannabis-consuming men of undetermined
fertility, Dr. Burkman violates a most basic test-design rule.
This design flaw is so striking, I have to give Dr. Burkman at least the benefit of the
doubt, and believe there was a valid control group, but that it was discarded when
analysis showed no statistical difference in male sperm motility and/or fertility due
to cannabis use.
The study is crackpot hogwash
My wife has one working ovary. A early adulthood trauma left her with only one
functional ovary. Together we have four natural born children. I have smoked cannabis
for 33 years and she has smoked cannabis for 30 years.
If cannabis slows anything, it is the US government's effectiveness in the worthless
drug war they wage.
Caffeine Perks Up Sluggish Sperm
By Maxine Frith October 14, 2003
Coffee may not simply wake up the brain cells - it could also boost male fertility, new
research suggests. Scientists have found that men who drink coffee have sperm that
moves better than the sperm of those who lay off the caffeine. The study suggests that
new coffee-based treatments should be developed for men with poor sperm movement - a
defect that can cause fertility problems.
Coffee/herb speeds up sperm
Wasn't the bad thing about pot was that it speeds up sperm? But with Coffee, it's good
that it speeds up sperm. Weird. Funny how both stories were released the same day.
Sounds like a natural contraceptive  )
Talking about solving the world's overpopulation? Hey..that sounds much more natural
than contraceptive pills. Why would that be only a woman's responsibility? Side effects
are not as potentially dangerous either. It's when they say it MAY cause this or that.
Their MAY's is one of the things that makes marijuana illegal.
Just another MAYBE....
This seems to be the prefered scientific method for prohibitionists.
Do an inconclusive study (or in the case of the RAVE act an improper study) then scream
"Look Look!" The problem is Joe Average doesn't look any further than the headlines...
and the powers that be know this.
faster, than what?
Ummmm, how do they measure the speed of sperm? Do they have "sperm derbies" where there
are tiny little lap lanes for them?
Another reason for MMJ!!!
My infertility problem is a little different. I have (and I hope I'm not sharing too
much) an abnomally high sperm count. Somewhere around 6X normal. The little swimmers
get caught in a "traffic jam," of sorts.
So, could this be another use for MMJ? Thanks for the supprt, Dr. Burkman!!
Another paid schill
1) Medical users don't care about fertility! 2) This is not a new study.
http://www.buffalo.edu/reporter/vol30/vol30n15/n4.html
Same woman, same BS. In her previous work, she stated 3 negative side affects. Now she
is down to one. That sperm swim abnormally if you smoke pot. What the hell is that.
Sperm always swim abnormally. They don't have eyes or ears. Millions of sperm are
released like pollen in hopes that one runs into the egg. period. She's really pulling
at straws to keep that government money coming. I'd like to see the actual research
methods and statistical information.
People told me I'd have trouble conceiving. My wife and I succeeded the FIRST time we
tried, and have a healthy, happy little boy.
What about the positive aspects on conceiving that they skip. A lot of people have
trouble conceiving because of a lack of intamacy. Studies have shown that conception is
much more successful when the woman and man climax at the same time, and a lot of
people have trouble with the intimacy this requires. Guess what helps a couples' intimacy? |
_________________
█ Please read the Board Rules and Posting, and you
█ Radio Free Amsterdam
People who know truth, speak truth.
Those who don't, quote scriptures. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
Public Forum
Members only forum
Members Group
| 
