Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Fertility is not a disease

I had a small chuckle at a post by someone who was pointing out another very annoying feature of the new health care bill. She said
Among the new health care law's many flaws is its apparent inclusion of free contraceptives for women. This is subsidized (not free) treatment for what is not a disease -- fertility.

Haha. Yes, that is the kind of thinking that got us where we are today, which is the misuse of insurance.

Insurance is meant to offer protection from unexpected major events, not for routine or expected events. So I have to agree with this person's criticism of this benefit in the bill. Now the question is, does the bill offer benefits for fertility treatment such as IVF? If should not, of course, because that is a lifestyle choice not an unexpected sickness or disease that would be the type of thing insurance should cover. But since we are piling on stuff that should not be there then why not.

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Monday, November 15, 2010

Male infertility and laptops - a study

Some time ago I posted about some debate over laptop computers and the possibility that men using them on their laps could suffer sperm damage. There is a new study published in the journal called Fertility and Sterility with some numbers and recommendations for laptop users.

Researchers at the Department of Urology and the Department of Applied Mathematics at the State University of New York identified the potential for rapid hyperthermia (over-heating) among male laptop users. They said that even when laptop "cool pads" were used there was still substantial heating of the scrotal area. They said that a relatively simple technique would help - sit with your knees apart.

Even when taking precautions like that gives only a temporary solution. Without knees spread temperatures in the important areas exceeded normal temperatures in only 10 to 15 minutes. With knees apart that doubled to 28 minutes. Still, one needs to limit the time using a laptop on one's lap.

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