|
| Andhra Pradesh ~ India ~ International ~ City ~ Entertainment ~ Business ~ Bullion ~ Forex ~ Sports ~ Technology ~ Health ~ Features |
|
Home
/ Technology News / 2008 / February 2008 / February 25, 2008 Viagra could damage mens fertility |
Indonesia hopes to become Indian Ocean tsunami-warning provider by 2011
Indonesia has launched its Tsunami Early Warning System (InaTEWS), with which it hopes to become the Indian Ocean tsunami-warning provider by 2011. ANI
Giant particle smasher to restart in July 2009
An internal report sent to physicists working on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the CERN laboratory near Geneva in Switzerland, has instructed them to restart the giant machine by end of July 2009. ANI
Coming soon, empathetic virtual humans
A completely different breed of virtual humans is being developed by French researchers which will be capable of reading and adapting to our emotions. ANI
Viagra might help men boost their performance in the bedroom, but it can also damage their ability to father a child, suggests a new British study.Researchers at the Queens University in Belfast have found that young men who take the anti-impotence drug recreationally could be damaging their sperm quality, thus spoiling their chances of starting a family.
Melbourne, Feb 25 : Viagra might help men boost their performance in the bedroom, but it can also damage their ability to father a child, suggests a new British study.Researchers at the Queen's University in Belfast have found that young men who take the anti-impotence drug recreationally could be damaging their sperm quality, thus spoiling their chances of starting a family.
Dr David Glenn, a consultant gynaecologist at Queen's University Belfast, carried out two experiments to find the effects of Viagra.
In the first experiment, the researchers bathed sperm samples in weak solutions of Viagra to mimic the level found in the blood of a man who has taken a single pill.
They found that Viagra made sperm more active than untreated sperm, but it also appeared to damage the acrosome - the part containing the enzymes needed to break down the membrane surrounding a woman's egg to allow sperm to fertilise it.
"Essentially the acrosome breaks open too early in sperm that has been exposed to Viagra," Newscom.au quoted Dr Glenn, as telling The Observer.
"The sperm cannot get into the egg and so it is not fertilised," he added.
The other experiment found mice that had been given Viagra produced 40 per cent fewer embryos than other mice.
The study has raised concern that young men, who take the drug regularly either for impotence or recreationally could be unknowingly damaging their fertility.
It further indicated that fertility clinics that give the drugs to patients could be making the problem worse.
Professor Michael Chapman, a senior fertility specialist with IVF Australia, said he was aware of very few Australian clinics that suggested using Viagra for production of sperms.
"I've never used it because most men are quite capable of producing a sample without it, and for the occasional man who isn't, we use a frozen sample where performance anxiety is not an issue," he said.
He believed that Viagra use among younger men would be restricted, with men in their post-fatherhood years most likely to take the drug.
"It hasn't yet been demonstrated in humans and we also don't know how long-lasting (the effect) it is," he said.
"But if you're a young man and you're using it regularly then I'd suggest you probably shouldn't if you're planning a family," he added.
ANI
