177 – Will going in the sauna ruin my sperm?

A series of inappropriate locker room conversations reveals two things: Sophie's friends don't have a good sense of boundaries and there's a lot of anxiety regarding sperm health. In theory, higher temperatures do affect sperm. But this a clinically meaningful effect or are we seeing a rehash of the worry around whirlpools from the 80s and 90s.

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Editor: Robyn Flynn

Theme music: "Fall of the Ocean Queen" by Joseph Hackl

Rod of Asclepius designed by Kamil J. Przybos

Chris' book, Does Coffee Cause Cancer?: https://ecwpress.com/products/does-coffee-cause-cancer

Obviously, Chris is not your doctor (probably). This podcast is not medical advice for you; it is what we call information.

References:

1. Oxidative stress and the impact on fertility https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32033035/

2. Heat and the impact on spermatogenesis: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7070831/

3. 2002 study of 8 normozoospermic patients who used a sauna dailiy for 2 weeks: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1046/j.1365-2605.1998.00138.x?sid=nlm%3Apubmed

4. 2007 study of 11 infertile men after exposure to hot tubs: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17335598/

5. 2013 study showing a repeated but reversible impairment in spermatogenesis after sauna exposure: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23411620/

6. 2018 systematic review: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5941775/

7. Declining fertility rates in Finland: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00324728.2020.1750677#d1e147