New research suggests vaping can shrink your testicles and cause a lower sperm count

New research has been released and you might want to put down your vape for this one.

Turkish scientists wanted to see what effects vaping had on the testicle size and sperm count of rats.

Mice and rats have anatomical, physiological, and genetic similarities to humans and that's why they're used all the time during experiments.

The researchers thought if something happens to the rats then it could also be happening to humans who vape.

The study was published in the Spanish medical journal Revista Internacional de Andrología and the findings were interesting to say the least.

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They took note of the size of the rats' balls and sperm counts before they started their testing.

They worked out that the average rat had around 98.5 million sperm per millilitre.

The animals were then split into three groups.

One was exposed to cigarette smoke from the Winston brand, the second was hit with e-cigarette vapours from a Joyetech eGo Aio 1500 mAh vape and a third was the control group that didn't experience anything.

They were put in 'specially-designed bell jars', according to Earth, and given the smoke or vapour twice a day for an hour each time.

The team found that sperm count dropped to around 95.1 million when hit with the e-cigarette vapour and 89 million when exposed to traditional cigarette smoke.

The rats exposed to cigarette smoke had the smallest testes compared to the e-cigarette and control group.

In the most severe cases, they discovered some rats with stopped germ cell separation, cavity formation, necrosis, fibrosis, and atrophy.

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They also concluded: "The results of this study showed changes in testicular histopathology, spermiogram, and oxidative stress parameters of rats exposed to cigarette and EC smoke.

"Therefore, it should be considered that although EC liquid has been introduced as harmless in smoking cessation studies, it could increase oxidative stress and cause morphological changes in the testicle.

"Nevertheless, more research is needed to understand the post-exposure spermiogram results."

The researchers said this research provides an 'exciting opportunity to advance current knowledge regarding the effect of smoking and EC on the male genital system pathogenesis'.

They believe the only limitation to the research is that it was done on rats and should be replicated in humans to ensure the data lines up.