Would be dads advised to stay out of the hot tub

Researchers are advising would be fathers to stay out of the hot tub.

The team led by Dr. Paul J. Turek, a urologist and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, say hot baths can lead to male infertility.

In a small pilot study carried out in Brazil over a three year period the researchers found that data collected on 11 infertile men revealed they had been repeatedly exposed to high water temperatures through hot tubs, Jacuzzis or hot baths.

That wet-heat exposure has negative effect on fertility has been suspected for years but until now there has been little clinical evidence to support the theory.

Dr. Turek says there is now actual evidence that such recreational activities are a real risk factor for male infertility.

The study defined wet-heat exposure as the immersion of the body in a hot tub, heated Jacuzzi or bath at a temperature warmer than body temperature for 30 minutes or more per week for at least three months prior to participation in the study.

The scientists studied both the quantity and quality of the sperm after the bathing was stopped and found that five of the 11 men experienced a significant increase in fertility and the sperm's ability to swim, rose by a third by the end of the study.

It was also found that after three to six months of staying out of hot tubs the men's average active sperm count increased almost fivefold.

The researchers suspect smoking may have been a factor in the six men who did not experience an increase in sperm count or motility.

The study is published in the March-April issue of the International Brazilian Journal of Urology.