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A year ago, a scientific study revealed that men smoking marijuana had lower sperm counts by as much as a third. To many that made sense since anything fun is usually bad for you and smoking weed makes you lazy so why wouldn’t it make your little swimmers lazy? However, a brand new medical study states the exact opposite and smoking cannabis actually improves your sperm counts.
A new study conducted by scientists at Harvard University was published in the journal Human Reproduction. Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found evidence that men who smoke more weed have higher sperm counts and are more fertile to those to do not blaze up. Oh my goodness… the world is about to be overpopulated by Phish fans!
The study found that males who had smoked marijuana at least once in their life had sperm counts that were significantly higher (or should I say more in number) than men who had never experienced cannabis. The research examined 365 men who had used marijuana compared to 297 men who had never toked up. The study examined 1,143 semen samples that were submitted to the Fertility Center at Massachusetts General Hospital between 2000 and 2017.
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The research also had 316 of the men give blood samples on the same day they gave their first semen sample. Test results found that weed smokers had significantly higher concentrations of testosterone, a key ingredient for making sperm. Compared to the Sober Steves, the potheads had lower serum FSH concentrations, which is a sign of fertility.
“These unexpected findings highlight how little we know about the reproductive health effects of marijuana, and in fact of the health effects of marijuana in general,” said head researcher Dr. Jorge Chavarro from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Is this good news or bad news for weedheads?
“Our findings were contrary to what we initially hypothesized,” said Feiby Nassan, Ph.D., the study’s lead author and research fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Nassan provided a possible explanation for the unexpected results. “The first being that low levels of marijuana use could benefit sperm production because of its effect on the endocannabinoid system, which is known to play a role in fertility, but those benefits are lost with higher levels of marijuana consumption.” The good doctor stressed that while low levels of marijuana could have a beneficial effect on sperm, higher levels could have a harmful effect and could cause infertility.
RELATED: Study Attempts To Answer Which Is Better: Sex When You’re High Vs. Sex When You’re Drunk
It should be noted that higher sperm counts and concentration are not the only factors in getting someone pregnant. The sperm’s motility or their movement as well as how high the gene-mutation ratio are in the swimmers are critical factors in egg fertilization. There are other factors from the study to consider such as participants lying about their marijuana usage or maybe people who are smoking weed are drinking less alcohol, which is also said to reduce sperm counts.
“These findings are not consistent with a deleterious effect of marijuana on testicular function,” the researchers stated. “Whether these findings are reflective of the previously described role of the endocannabinoid system in spermatogenesis or a spurious association requires confirmation in further studies.”
This makes sense since marijuana enthusiasts such as Shawn Kemp has seven kids, Mike Tyson has seven kids, Bob Marley has 11 kids, and Antonio Cromartie has 14 kids. That’s some potent baby gravy right there, However, using this one study to attempt to bring a life into the world while also giving you a reason to toke up is probably a smidge misguided.
[Quartz]