Cell Phones & EMFs Reduce Sperm Health & Testosterone | Dr. Andrew Huberman
00:00:00.000 | [silence]
00:00:02.420 | Now, a topic that is sure to be a bit controversial,
00:00:04.900 | but it really shouldn't be because the data,
00:00:06.620 | at least to me, are very clear,
00:00:08.320 | is this issue of phone use and sperm quality.
00:00:13.300 | Now, this can open up a whole array of issues
00:00:17.140 | related to things like EMFs,
00:00:18.900 | and you've got people out there that have, you know,
00:00:20.860 | ideas about 5G and all of this stuff.
00:00:23.660 | That is not what this discussion is about.
00:00:25.500 | The discussion I'm about to have with you
00:00:27.580 | relates to the fact that the electromagnetic fields
00:00:30.500 | and the heat-related effects of smartphones
00:00:34.460 | can indeed have a detrimental effect on sperm quality,
00:00:37.940 | and yes, indeed, on testosterone levels as well.
00:00:41.000 | I'm going to refer you to a paper.
00:00:42.660 | We will link it in the show note captions.
00:00:44.180 | The title of this paper is
00:00:45.380 | "Effects of Mobile Phone Usage on Sperm Quality.
00:00:48.500 | No Time-Dependent Relationship on Usage.
00:00:51.080 | A Systematic Review and Updated Meta-Analysis."
00:00:53.500 | This is a paper that came out in 2021,
00:00:56.660 | and talks about the fact
00:00:58.340 | that phones emit a radio frequency electromagnetic waves,
00:01:01.380 | which are called RF radio frequency,
00:01:03.740 | EMWs, electromagnetic waves,
00:01:05.980 | at a low level between 80 and 2,200 megahertz
00:01:10.060 | that can be absorbed by the human body.
00:01:11.660 | We know this, okay, this is not controversial,
00:01:13.900 | and have potential adverse effects on brain, heart,
00:01:16.020 | endocrine system, and reproductive function.
00:01:17.580 | That has been established.
00:01:19.540 | Keep in mind, there is basically no controversy
00:01:22.620 | that radio frequency waves and EMFs
00:01:24.900 | can have a negative impact on biological tissues.
00:01:27.060 | The question is how intense
00:01:29.540 | are those radio frequency waves and EMFs,
00:01:32.220 | and how detrimental are those on those biological tissues?
00:01:36.300 | Okay, it's a matter of degrees,
00:01:38.140 | but there is very little controversy
00:01:39.740 | as to whether or not they have an effect
00:01:41.120 | on biological tissues,
00:01:42.140 | and I'm aware of absolutely zero data
00:01:44.420 | showing that they can have a positive effect
00:01:45.820 | on biological tissues.
00:01:47.260 | Since what we're mainly talking about now are smartphones,
00:01:49.880 | we want to separate out the heat effects of smartphones
00:01:52.300 | from the EMFs related to the fact
00:01:54.100 | that they are Wi-Fi smartphones,
00:01:56.140 | or they're using cellar towers and Wi-Fi.
00:01:59.900 | One or the other combination.
00:02:01.380 | Okay, so there are a number of different things
00:02:02.900 | in the phone that could be detrimental.
00:02:04.560 | We need to separate those out.
00:02:05.540 | Why?
00:02:06.360 | Well, because you might have heard
00:02:07.700 | that carrying your phone in your pocket
00:02:09.100 | can reduce your testosterone levels and sperm count,
00:02:11.940 | and guess what?
00:02:12.980 | That is true.
00:02:14.460 | The data contained within this meta-analysis
00:02:16.620 | and other meta-analyses clearly point out
00:02:19.040 | that it can reduce sperm count
00:02:21.420 | and maybe testosterone levels significantly,
00:02:23.500 | but certainly sperm count and motility significantly.
00:02:26.520 | It reduces sperm quality.
00:02:28.280 | So should you avoid putting your phone in your pocket?
00:02:31.980 | Certainly your front pocket, I would suggest yes, right?
00:02:34.540 | If you are somebody who is seeking to conceive, right?
00:02:37.220 | I'm not somebody who is going to stop using my smartphone.
00:02:39.900 | I don't expect anyone's going to stop using their smartphone.
00:02:41.860 | The question is, should you carry it in your front pocket
00:02:44.780 | if you're a male?
00:02:45.960 | I think to be on the safe side,
00:02:47.500 | the answer is probably avoid doing that too much of the time.
00:02:50.340 | Ideally, don't do it at all.
00:02:52.320 | Then people will say, well, what if I turn off the Wi-Fi
00:02:56.460 | or I turn off the cellular access,
00:02:59.040 | then is it still a problem?
00:03:00.340 | Well, it's a problem due to the heat-related effects.
00:03:03.340 | And then people say, well,
00:03:04.660 | I don't actually feel the heat of the phone.
00:03:05.980 | It doesn't get that warm.
00:03:07.560 | But the temperature effects of the phone, it turns out,
00:03:12.180 | are enough, even under conditions
00:03:14.340 | in which people don't report it to be uncomfortably warm,
00:03:17.380 | that it can change the temperature milieu of the testicle
00:03:19.940 | in ways that can diminish sperm quality.
00:03:21.500 | How much and how that relates to fertility
00:03:24.200 | and healthy pregnancy, not clear.
00:03:25.680 | But since we're talking about things to avoid,
00:03:28.160 | if your goal is to have a healthy fertilization
00:03:31.740 | in pregnancy, well then, by all means,
00:03:33.640 | just don't carry it in your front pocket.
00:03:35.200 | Then people say, well, what about back pocket
00:03:36.640 | or what about backpack?
00:03:37.680 | Look, it's very clear that avoiding being too close
00:03:41.120 | to the phone is probably better for your sperm quality
00:03:44.440 | than putting the phone very close to your testicles
00:03:47.620 | or anywhere else on your body.
00:03:49.440 | But it's also the reality that most people
00:03:51.340 | are going to carry a phone nowadays, all right?
00:03:53.700 | It's just the reality.
00:03:54.580 | I think the current estimates,
00:03:57.460 | and it's discussed in this paper,
00:03:58.420 | that 90% of the human population has a smartphone.
00:04:02.460 | 90%, which is incredible.
00:04:03.900 | The adult population, of course.
00:04:05.800 | Although a lot of kids have them as well.
00:04:07.580 | So this paper goes on to detail a number
00:04:09.380 | of different studies and outcomes from studies.
00:04:11.380 | But basically what they find, and here I'm paraphrasing,
00:04:13.460 | is that the data indicate that sperm quality declines
00:04:17.220 | when people start using a mobile phone.
00:04:18.860 | So from the point they start using a mobile phone,
00:04:20.600 | regardless of the usage time, this is important.
00:04:22.740 | It used to be thought that it was four hours a day
00:04:24.520 | or more of holding your phone or having that phone
00:04:28.220 | close to your body was going to diminish sperm quality.
00:04:30.380 | It turns out that it's not related to usage time.
00:04:32.380 | That's even the title of the paper.
00:04:33.940 | It's just the fact that people are using mobile phones
00:04:36.100 | is reducing sperm count and quality.
00:04:39.140 | That's the reality.
00:04:40.000 | Is it entirely responsible for all the reductions
00:04:43.020 | in sperm quality and maybe even the reductions
00:04:44.820 | in testosterone levels that we're observing
00:04:46.580 | from decade to decade going forward?
00:04:48.860 | I doubt that's the case.
00:04:50.060 | Is it likely to be one of the major players?
00:04:52.600 | I've got my bet on the fact that it is based
00:04:55.980 | on the data that I've observed.
00:04:57.420 | And so if any of you would like to peruse the data
00:04:59.540 | in this meta-analysis, they're quite good.
00:05:01.380 | This study looked at 18 studies that include 4,280 samples.
00:05:05.860 | They were able to separate out the radio frequency
00:05:08.420 | versus the heat effects, and they were able
00:05:10.500 | to eliminate this time of usage variable
00:05:14.020 | that previously we thought if you were exposed
00:05:16.020 | to a lot of cell phone contact, that it was far worse
00:05:19.860 | than if you were exposed to a little bit.
00:05:20.940 | Turns out if you're exposed to any at all,
00:05:22.620 | you're going to diminish sperm quality.
00:05:24.020 | What does that mean?
00:05:24.960 | Does that mean that no matter what you do,
00:05:26.340 | if you own a smartphone,
00:05:27.720 | that you're going to diminish sperm quality?
00:05:29.460 | I think the short answer is yes,
00:05:31.020 | but that you can mitigate it.
00:05:32.960 | What might you do?
00:05:33.820 | Well, keeping your phone away from your groin
00:05:36.140 | or as far from your groin as possible,
00:05:37.580 | if you're a male who's wishing to conceive
00:05:39.200 | and maybe even a male who's wishing
00:05:40.500 | to maximize his testosterone levels,
00:05:42.580 | because it does appear that radio frequency waves
00:05:45.300 | and the heat from the phone,
00:05:46.680 | so both of those factors independently and together,
00:05:49.460 | of course, can disrupt the lydic cells of the testes
00:05:52.340 | and the production of testosterone
00:05:53.900 | and intratesticular testosterone.
00:05:56.100 | It's important for sperm production.
00:05:57.900 | The exact biological variables leading
00:05:59.980 | to all these changes isn't exactly clear,
00:06:02.180 | but if you're like me, you say, okay,
00:06:03.740 | probably not a problem for most males to carry their phone,
00:06:07.220 | but probably best to not carry it in the front pocket,
00:06:10.060 | maybe even avoid carrying the back pocket as well.
00:06:12.300 | Again, in the future, we will have an episode
00:06:13.980 | all about Bluetooth.
00:06:15.220 | We'll talk about various aspects of EMFs.
00:06:18.140 | It's a super interesting data set,
00:06:20.400 | and it's a data set for which there's a ton of controversy.
00:06:23.540 | It's really interesting, however,
00:06:25.700 | and there are more and more quality data
00:06:27.060 | coming out all the time.
00:06:28.140 | And I think going forward, we are going to see
00:06:30.060 | that indeed there are some negative effects
00:06:31.740 | of smartphones related
00:06:32.860 | to both the radio frequency transmission
00:06:35.800 | and the fact that they generate heat.
00:06:39.020 | And in general, heat is not good for biological tissues.
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