There are several things we can do in order to increase male fertility, starting with healthy living habits. Among them is not the use of drugs, and there have been several studies that relate this use to higher rates of infertility. Now, a new study confirms that Marijuana use can harm semen.
Male infertility can be due to multiple factors and we already knew that the use of marijuana reduces fertility, both female and male, but this new study is a little closer to the effects of the drug on semen quality, which seems to decrease in very significant levels.
The research, conducted in Denmark with more than 1200 men aged 18 to 28, found between men who had used marijuana more than once a week a reduction in sperm count. Specifically, 29% less quantity than those men who reported a lighter or no use of said drug during the previous three months.
But it is not the worst thing that can happen to a man who consumes marijuana in terms of fertility, since those who additionally used other drugs saw an even more drastic reduction in the number of sperm, up to 55%. Another conclusion was that marijuana smokers had higher levels of testosterone, in the same range as cigarette smokers.
The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, has been carried out by specialists from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Copenhagen. According to the authors, it is possible that THC or tetrahydrocannabinol (the chemical agent that causes the psychological effects of marijuana) affects the receptors of the testicles.
And although everything indicates that marijuana does not favor fertility, researchers cannot guarantee that this herb is directly responsible for sperm reduction. They point out that perhaps it would be possible for men who used marijuana, generally with a less healthy lifestyle, to have other habits that affect the quality of their semen.
But there are other studies that indicate that Marijuana use is strongly associated with an abnormal sperm morphology. It has also been proven that the sperm of marijuana smokers need more energy to get to the egg and fertilize it, that is, they are slower.
In short, whether for one reason or another, it seems clear that drugs do not do well when looking for a baby. Health in general suffers, although this decrease in semen quality is not too well known yet, it seems that the population is increasingly aware of this and other risks.
It is certainly a very important matter, since the consumption of this drug is very common. Marijuana very possibly affects the quantity and quality of sperm, which could be a public health problem that adds to other factors that affect the increase in male infertility in recent decades.
