Is your mobile ruining your sex life? Men who carry phones for 4 hours a day are more likely to be IMPOTENT, study claims

It's well known that mobiles can kill the moment - just as you lean in to make the next move, your phone rings or a work email flashes up that you just can't resist checking.
But mobile phones might be having a more sinister effect on our love lives, according to new research.
Scientists found that men who hold their mobiles for more than four hours a day are more likely to suffer from impotence than those who limit usage to less than two hours. 

Researchers asked 20 men with erectile dysfunction about mobile phone habits, and compared the results to those from 10 healthy men. Men who had previously reported impotence were found to carry their mobiles for a significantly longer time than those without the condition. 

MOBILE PHONES AND FERTILITY

Men who use mobile phones could be risking their fertility, according to two separate studies from Cleveland and Egypt.
Both studies found a 'worrying link' between poor sperm and the number of hours a day a man uses his mobile phone.
In the Cleveland study, men who made calls on a mobile phone for more than four hours a day had the worst sperm counts and the poorest quality sperm.


The Egypt research noticed the correlation after six hours of phone use a day.
However, neither study found sperm count was affected.
Doctors believe the damage could be caused by the electromagnetic radiation emitted by handsets or the heat they generate.
Previous studies found using a laptop has a similar impact on fertility levels in men, due to the heat released from the battery.
Elsewhere, the heat of kitchens has been linked to low fertility levels in some chefs.

They said that more research needs to be done to establish what causes the problem and the extent of damage mobiles can cause.
For the study, researchers recruited 20 men who had experienced problems with erectile function in the six months prior to the study, known as Group A.
They also studied 10 healthy men with no history of dysfunction, known as Group B.

 

• Researchers found a link between mobile usage and erectile dysfunction
• They studied 20 men who had issues with impotence, plus 10 healthy men
• There was no significant difference between age, weight and testosterone 
• Men with erectile problems did carry their mobiles for a 'significantly longer time' than healthy men

Each participant was asked to complete the Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) and were evaluated based on the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF).
They were also surveyed about their mobile phone habits.
The researchers claimed there were no noticeable differences across both groups in terms of age, weight, height and smoking habits.
Both groups equally had similar levels of total testosterone, which were measured to establish if any of the men had underlying sexual health problems.
The 30 men also spent a similar amount of time talking on their phones.
However, the biggest difference in the two groups was the length of time they carried ‘switched-on’ mobile phones in their pockets or hands.

Each participant was asked to complete the Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM). They were also surveyed about their mobile phone habits. The results follow previous research that found a 'worrying link' between poor sperm and the number of hours a day a man uses his mobile phone. 

MOBILE PHONE SURVEY QUESTIONS

Each participant was asked five questions to establish their mobile phone usage habits including:
How many hours a week do you talk over the phone?
How many hours per day do you hold the phone in standby position?
Do you daily use other devices that emit radiowaves like Bluetooth or laptops?
Does your work expose you to radiowaves or irradiation of any kind?
The SHIM scores of Group A were significantly lower than that of Group B, 11.2 compared to  24.2, respectively.
Total time spent talking on the phone per week was 17.6 hours for Group A and 12.5 hours for Group B. 

The men who had previously suffered from erectile problems were found to carry their devices for a ‘significantly longer time’ than the healthy men in Group B - 4.4 hours a day compared to 1.8 hours a day.
Lead author Badereddin Mohamad Al-Ali said: ‘This prospective pilot study showed that there may be a relation between cell phone usage and erectile dysfunction (ED).
'Men with ED use their phones longer than men without ED, [and] men who have ED carry their switched-on cell phones significantly longer than men who do not have ED.
‘Our study showed the total time of exposure to the cell phone is much more important than the relatively short duration of intense exposure during phone calls.’
This study was reported in the Central European Journal of Urology and recently featured in the Environmental Health Trust’s newsletter.
It follows previous research from the same team concerning mobile phone use and fertility.
In the 'Impact of cell phone use on men's semen parameters’ study, the researchers found evidence to suggest mobile phone usage can impact the quality of sperm, including sperm motility and morphology.

The researchers stressed that no conclusive link has been found linking mobiles to erectile dysfunction and sperm quality, and more work, with larger sample groups, needs to be carried out.