GENITAL HEAT EXPOSURE THREATENS MEN FERTILITY, SAYS EXPERT

Cuthbert Maendaenda

By Frank Amani, Morogoro

An expert in the reproductive health has warned men to stop engaging themselves in activities that exposes their genital organs to heat at a lengthy period because they risk being infertile.

The Project Manager for Tanzanian Men as Equal Partner (TMEP), a
Swedish Association for Sexuality Education of Tanzania project Cuthbert Maendaenda said this on Thursday in Morogoro Region during a three day workshop on Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR).

The workshop aimed at empowering journalists with SRHR and gender knowledge to enable them report on the subject efficiently. He said motorists who are mostly men including high-way drivers, cooks and others people with high temperatures exposures are likely to lose their fertility.

He said heat was among the top causes of unproductiveness in men saying if semen is exposed to an elevated temperature, there is a low probability of its survival because it required correct environment of at least -2 degrees cooler than the body temperature which is 37° C. 

Men should stay away from activities such as cooking, grilling, motorcycles riding, putting laptops on their thighs or near their genital organs, wearing tight-fitting clothing and long cycling which can all lead to infertility, he said.

“Just like in most mammals, human genitals function is temperature dependent. Normally their function requires a temperature of between 2 to 4°C below body temperature. Prolonged heat exposure usually affects production process causing low semen production. This may lead to semen abnormality and hence infertility” he said.

However, some of the motorists who were interviewed by The Guardian in the region said they were not aware of such health risks.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN