Warning About Reversibility of Core Heating

[chris]

WARNING:

Today, about a year after discontinuing the testicular heating started in November, 1998, I received results of my semen analysis which indicated that the method may not be completely reversible. The abnormalities were low motility (<1% rather than >60%), high abnormal morphology (60% rather than <40%) and low count (16 million/mL rather than >19 million/mL). Until this result, every other report suggested that the heating method was fully reversible. I intend to repeat the semen analysis in about a year to see if any fertility has returned. While it is always possible that my continued infertility is unrelated to the heat contraception, I am only 43 years old and have not been exposed to any other conditions I know of, such as radiation, which could account for the sterility. As a single subject my results are not conclusive, but should at least serve as a reminder that heat-based contraception is still experimental, especially at the uniquely long duration at which I tested it, and its reversibility and other health consequences are uncertain.

The testicular heating, at core body temperature initially at 16 hours/day and later (at 3125 days) 24 hours/day, began 11/23/98 and ended 5/6/10, a total of 4182 days or 11.4 years.

This first laboratory semen analysis was done 4/20/11, 349 days after discontinuing heating. The second analysis, below, was done 2/29/12, 664 days after discontinuing heating.

[chris]

Another concern about reversibility was brought to my attention when I was forwarded the attached article. It found decreases in testicular mass and sperm count in rats half a year after a single 43C, 30 minute heat treatment. I'm not sure how to interpret this result in light of the earlier studies posted on puzzlepiece.org showing recovery. Again, this is a clear reminder that heat-based contraception is still highly experimental and may not be fully reversible, and there may be other unforeseen health consequences. I posted my results not to promote the use of heat as a method of contraception but to promote research into the possibility, and to encourage anyone who experiments in this area to share their results publicly so that the risk of the next person is lessened by the amount their predecessors bore.

[chris]

I recently had another sperm analysis conducted, on February 29, 2012. This time the motility was 29% (vs. >60% normally) and abnormal morphology was 65% (vs. <40% normally) at a count of 14 million/mL (vs. >19 million/mL normally). So, despite an improved sperm motility, I am still marginally fertile.