Increasingly, habits are known to have a negative relationship with sperm quality.
In fact, a few years ago many men could affirm that where I put my eye, I put the bullet, but nowadays it is better not to catch your fingers; because, some more and others less, all are or have been in contact with some substance or radiation harmful to their soldiers.
And last but not least with everything that is already known, a group of scientists from the University of Copenhagen has just carried out a study, the results of which will be presented at the 98th congress of the Endocrinology Societya from Boston which shows that 13 out of 29 UV filtersstudied, all approved for the elaboration of sun creams in United States and Europe, also have a negative effect on the seminal quality.
What are the habits that affect the quality of sperm?
Sperm are quite resistant cells; capable of, for example, resurrecting to perfection after being frozen, but that does not mean that there are no things that they cannot bear.
Although it is true that there is much myth around this, many of the statements that reach our ears are true. For example, much of what is said about the negative effect of temperature is true.
The scrotal temperature It is usually about 34 degrees, a little lower than the body, since it is exactly what sperm need. Although they are able to withstand small fluctuations, a very large change can be fatal to them; so you rest on your testicles hot objects like laptops, use very tight pants or even abuse visits to spas It can significantly reduce your fertilizing capacity.
On the other hand, exposure to some chemical substances It can also be very damaging. A good example is that of pesticides, which little by little have caused the regions in which agriculture forms an important part of the economy to be the cradle of men with somewhat low fertility.
What is the relationship between calcium and sperm?
When sperm are released into the ejaculate, do not have the necessary characteristics to fertilize the egg, so they require a process, called sperm training, which takes place during his journey through the female reproductive tract.
Thanks to this mechanism, they acquire the ability to adhere to the hairy area of the oocytesuffer change the way you move oriented to better reach their destination and carry out the acrosmic reaction, thanks to which the membranes of both reproductive cells fuse.
In order for all this to happen correctly, a series of changes in the levels of calcium in their initial form, so it is very important that they are correct.
What is the relationship between sun creams and poor sperm quality?
For the realization of sun creams two types of sunscreens; the physical, which reflect ultraviolet rays when they strike the skin, and chemical, which absorb them.
The latter, have been observed in samples both blood as urine, so it follows that they are capable of pierce the skin and penetrate the body. Once there, they should be removed without causing any symptoms, but according to this study, it does not appear to be so.
To verify this, they studied these substances on human sperm cultures, who were induced to fertilize eggs under the conditions of the female reproductive tract.
Thus, they verified that the calcium signaling pathways, which are normally activated by the action of the progesterone, were affected after exposure to most UV filters, so that the sperm could not swim properly towards the oocyte.
Despite all this, these researchers warn that there should be no panic for various reasons. First of all, these results have not been verified in vivo (directly in the body), but has only been done in cultures in vitro, at the laboratory.
Furthermore, they have not yet sufficiently verified the results, so they cannot claim that their assumptions are totally true.
What is well proven is that exposure to the Sun’s rays without using this type of filter results in skin cancer, so stopping using them would be crazy. If after confirming the study your suspicions are confirmed, it would be logical that these UV filters be replaced by others that are not harmful, there would be no problem, but exposing our skin to cancer should never be an option.
