Medical expert of the article
New publications
Regular smoking marijuana provokes infertility
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
The use of marijuana is contraindicated to a couple planning a child's birth. As experts have established, the drug can reduce fertility, especially in men younger than thirty.
When smoking marijuana in the body of a man begins to change the size and shape of sperm, experts warn. The research team at one of the universities found that the worst indicators in seminal fluid occur in the summer months.
Experts conducted a survey of more than two thousand men who underwent examination in clinics of reproductive medicine. Most of all scientists were interested in the way of life and the existing diseases. As a result, it turned out that less than 4% of full spermatozoa were observed during ejaculation in the summer (from June to August). Similar problems have occurred in the body of men under the age of 30 years and using marijuana for the last three months before the study.
Also, scientists noted that smoking conventional cigarettes and alcohol have no similar effect on the body of men, while lead can worsen the quality of spermatozoa and as a result, the couple will have problems with conception.
Previously, specialists were able to establish that the compounds that are present in marijuana can prevent inflammation in the brain or spinal cord, which helps protect against diseases, especially in multiple sclerosis and other similar pathologies. As specialists note, inflammation in the body is the response of the immune system to the disease, but with multiple sclerosis there are some violations.
The drug of natural origin contains substances that are able to regulate inflammation, while maintaining the nervous system. The scientists paid close attention to cannabidiol and tetrahydrocannabinol, which treated immune cells, usually affecting the brain or spinal cord. As a result, scientists determined that the immune cells seized from paralyzed rodents reproduced a smaller number of inflammatory molecules, especially those having direct relevance to multiple sclerosis, since such molecules pose a particular danger to nerve cells and their membranes.
After therapy in rodents, in which limbs were paralyzed, mobility was gradually restored. The mice began to move their tail first, and then to walk.
In the plans of specialists to conduct such therapy for people.
Cannabidiol is the most active component of marijuana. In addition, it does not have a strong intoxicating effect on consciousness, in contrast to tetrahydrocannabinol.
Several years ago, scientists have proven that cannabidiol can suppress the symptoms of multiple sclerosis in rodents, preventing the defeat of nerve cells in the spinal cord by immune cells.
In addition, a study of the effects of marijuana on the human body showed that tetrahydrocannabinol helps to protect the immune system, which is gradually being destroyed due to HIV infection. This psychoactive component prevents the destruction of tissue in the gastrointestinal tract, necessary for the work of immunity.
Specialists managed to prove that tetrahydrocannabinol promotes the survival of T cells and reduces cell death in the digestive tract.
[