Sauna sessions can threaten male fertility
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Men who frequently spend time in saunas ( A sauna is a small room or house designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions ) run the risk of reduced fertility rates, according to a group of Italian researchers.
They were citing the results of a University of Padua study presented at a conference on sexual health near the north-eastern Italian city, the ANSA news agency reported.
After undergoing 15-minute-long sauna sessions twice weekly over three months, a sample group of 10 young men were found to have half the number of sperm cells than before the experiment began, the researchers said.
The reason for the loss of sperm cells was an increase of two degrees in the temperature of the men's testes, the researchers said.
In normal conditions, the temperature of the testicles is two degrees lower than the rest of the body, an essential condition for the normal production of sperm cells, the researchers said.
The researchers said sperm cell loss due to exposure to the hot sauna conditions is not permanent as special 'repairing molecules' can reverse the damage.
Courtesy ANSA