Binge-watchers, beware: Watching TV for 5 hours daily can cut sperm count by 35%

Watching excess TV may be harming your sperm count, says a new study. It also shows a link between a 45% risk of dying from pulmonary embolism with every hour of additional watching per day.

Watching TV for more than five hours a day is linked to a reduction in sperm count by 35%, warns a recent study. According to researchers, watching excess TV is attributable to eating high calorie junk food and laziness.
Moreover, the study showed a link between developing risk of dying from blood clot in the lungs due to fatal pulmonary embolism was raised by 45% with every hour of additional watching per day. Previous research said that men who watch television for 20 hours per week have almost half the sperm count of those who watch very little television or none at all.

Physically active men with at least 15 hours of moderate exercising or playing sports had sperm counts around 3/4th higher than those who were physically inactive. (Shutterstock)

Sagarika Aggarwal, IVF expert at Indira IVF hospital in New Delhi, said, “Along with a sedentary lifestyle, the chemical additives and acidic nature either harms the motility and shape of the sperm cells or lead to its death. Bisphenol A (BPA) is linked to lowering the semen quality. And people who binge-eat in front of the TV are four times at a greater risk of lowering the sperm count, motility and concentration.”

The team collected samples from 200 students aged between 18 to 22 years for lab analysis. Binge-watchers had an average sperm counts of 37 Mn per mL, as compared to 52 Mn per mL among those who hardly spend time in front of the TV. Physically active men with at least 15 hours of moderate exercising or playing sports had sperm counts around 3/4th higher than those who were physically inactive,” said Swati Mothe, a Hyderabad-based IVF expert.

Over-exercising and binge-watching both stimulate the generation of free radicals in the body that lead to cell death. The sperm, also being a cell, has a 90% chance of death and can affect your reproductive health. The research appears in American Journal of Epidemiology.

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