Laptop Heat Can Endanger Sperm Count – Expert

A Consultant in Nuclear Medicine and Radiology, Dr Jawa Muhammad, has said that the heat generated from the laptop could affect the sperm count thereby causing infertility.

Muhammad told newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday that heat from the laptop had devastating effect on sperm counts.

The Wikipedia online dictionary describes sperm count, or sperm concentration, as a measure of the concentration of sperm in a man’s ejaculate, it is done to evaluate a man’s fertility.

“It is very true that the heat that generates from electronic devices like the laptop, particularly has devastating effect on the fertility profile or the sexual status of human beings.

“The optimum temperature that is required for the process of production of sperm cells should always be one degree less than the body temperature.”

He said that the testicles were in a flexible skin tissue, noting that during heat period when the body temperature was extremely high, the skin of the scrotum became loose.

“Therefore suspending the testis outside so that the testis temperature will always be one degree less than the body temperature.”

Muhammad said that nature had kindly designed this process of scrotum movement to adjust to temperature of less than one degree in all seasons for normal sperm cells production.

“When you place your laptop particularly on your lap as the name implies, there is a huge heat that is emanating from the laptop, which can cause severe effect on the male testis and scrotum, which can lead to infertility.”

He noted that excessive heat affected sperm cells production and made it defective, which invariably affected fertility.

Muhammad explained that the female ovary was very sensitive to heat, adding that it required low temperature for normal development of eggs for conception.

“Heat damages the egg, causes deformity to the ovary and affects fertility in women.”

According to him, exposure to laptop heat by pregnant women could cause some congenital problems to the unborn child, such as absence of fingers, eye or deformity in some parts of the body.

The nuclear expert said that the best thing was to put the laptop from 50cm to 100cm away from the genital area, especially for men.

“We always recommend that it should be placed on the platform or desk, or table, very far away from the lap area.”

He noted that putting a laptop on top of the lap could damage the surrounding area of the tissue, saying that it caused significant burns to the area of the testis.

He, however, added that with time it could lead to cancer of the spermatocele, which had devastating effect on muscles and blood vessels around the area.

Muhammad said that heat radiation had effect on both male and female, saying that it reduced the integrity of skin, caused cancer and made the person involved in its regular usage more prone to skin infections.

He noted that the screen also had some form of radiation that could damage the retina of eyes as well as cause blindness.

Muhammad urged the public to minimise the manner and way they used the laptop by engaging in other things that would reduce the amount of time people spent on it, to reduce the chances of its health implications.

He advised that people who use laptops should use screens to reduce the effect of radiation.

He also cautioned against the lifestyle of spending too much of time on any electronic device as it had health implications generally.