cannabisnews.com: U.S. Study Shows Marijuana Can Affect Fertility!





U.S. Study Shows Marijuana Can Affect Fertility!
Posted by FoM on December 16, 1998 at 10:22:45 PT
How was this study conducted?
Washington D.C. Scientists said Wednesday they had shown how active ingredients in marijuana can affect fertility by damaging sperm function. 
They said natural body compounds known as anandamides, which are similar to compounds found in marijuana, may be important for helping sperm get to and fertilise an egg. Cannabinoids in marijuana are similar enough to anandamides to confuse the body and interfere with this, they said. Herbert Schuel and colleagues at the University of Buffalo in New York said human sperm contain receptors, a kind of chemical doorway, that the active ingredients in cannabis can use. "We've known for 30 years that very heavy marijuana smoking has a drastic effect on sperm production within the testis, which can lead to higher rates of infertility," Schuel said in a statement. "Our new findings suggest that anandamides and THC in marijuana smoke may also affect sperm functions required for fertilisation in the female reproductive tract." Anandamides are neurotransmitters, or message-carrying chemicals. It has been known for years that the cannabinoids, the active ingredients, in marijuana are similar enough to anandamides to use the same chemical doorways into brain cells. Schuel's group found that sperm also carry receptors for anandamides, and that cannabinoids will attach themselves to these receptors given a chance. Reporting to a meeting of the American Society of Cell Biology in San Francisco, Schuel's group said the cannabinoids interfered with the release of enzymes the sperm need to penetrate an egg, with the regulation of sperm swimming and with the binding of a sperm to the outside of an egg. Evidently, he said, when people use marijuana heavily the body becomes flooded with cannabinoids and normal functions that use the similar anandamide chemicals are overwhelmed. What I really want to know is:Was the testing done on synthetic THC and were the tests done on humans and what dosage was used? Only then will I believe this story!
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Comment #3 posted by Verity on February 26, 2001 at 18:15:47 PT
My husband is having problems
My husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for 10 months now, and we are both heavy marijuana smokers. I have cut down recently and plan to quit completely when I conceive, but my husband is having trouble slowing down. Since I haven't become pregnant, I went to the gyno who told me to have my husband get a semen test. When the results came back it was "low count and sluggish". I can only figure that his sperm are stoned and swimming in circles. I have got him eating good foods, taking his vitamins and he has agreed to cut down. We need to submit another sample in 2 weeks. Hopefully, those little guys will be swimming fast and straight! I'll let ya know!
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Comment #2 posted by Ducros on December 21, 1998 at 16:33:47 PT
RE: Study
Well, I'll be sure to tell my good friend, who is a regular, daily, heavy smoker. He just got his fiancee(also a heavy smoker) most certainly pregnant, after she skipped a couple her birth control pill.Since they decided to run with it and get married now, I'll be sure to let them know that they're probably wrong, and that both are important. Maybe they smoked some other thing, not Pot.
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Comment #1 posted by Santor on December 17, 1998 at 23:30:05 PT
Smoke, mirrors and sperm
Dr. Schuel's research was only done on SEA URCHINS. Although human sperm does contain cannabinoid receprors, no studies have been done showing how it is used. Humans have shown differences in response to substances, including cannabinoids, compared to other animals. Until this is studied in humans, which is easily done in vivo, as were the sea urchin studies, extropilating the results to show effect in humans is not just scientific irresponsibility, it's just plain silly.
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