Men damage their ability to have children by going to the gym & # 39; looking great & # 39;

Men damage their chances of having children by going to the gym & # 39; looking great and attracting women & # 39 ;, experts have warned.

Scientists have said that drugs used for muscle growth and anti-baldness pills can have side effects, including erectile dysfunction and infertility.

The ironic effect is the Mossman-Pacey paradox named after the scientists who first described it, and noticed more buff men who needed fertility tests.

Professor Allan Pacey, from the University of Sheffield, told it BBC: & # 39; Isn't it ironic that men go to the gym to look great, mostly to attract women and unintentionally reduce their fertility. & # 39;

Dr. James Mossman, on Brown University Rhode Island, said: “They (some men) are trying to look really big, to look like the highlights of evolution.

& # 39; But they make themselves very unsuitable in an evolutionary sense, because without exception they had no sperm in their ejaculation at all. & # 39;

Dr. Mossman was studying for her doctorate at Sheffield University when he found that many of the men who came in to test their fertility, & # 39; huge & # 39; goods.

He then made the link between poor fertility and the use of anabolic steroids, which are used to increase muscle mass and gym performance.

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS), a type of image and performance enhancing drug (IPED & # 39; s), are synthetically produced versions of the naturally occurring male sex hormone testosterone.

However, they themselves can block the production of testosterone in the testicles, which is crucial for the production of sperm.

The effect can be reversed if the male steroids are no longer used in three months to a year. But if used in high doses for a long time, it can permanently damage fertility.

Professor Pacey, former president of the British Fertility Society, estimates that 90 percent of the use of anabolic steroids becomes sterile.

Anti-baldness pills are not so much a concern, he said, but they are rising sharply in sales.

The drug finasteride, which is only prescribed in the UK, lists sexual dysfunction as a & # 39; very common side effect & # 39; which includes a lower sex drive and inability to get an erection.

It limits hair loss by changing the way in which testosterone is metabolized in the body, preventing it from being converted to dihydrotestosterone, a male androgen associated with balding.

In a study conducted by The George Washington University, published in JAMA Dermatology in 2014, about five percent of men taking the drug showed a decrease in sperm count.

Dr. Mossman believes that humans are the only animals who sacrifice their fertility success in the hope of attracting the opposite sex.

The two experts warned that men may be unclear about the potentially life-changing side effects of their vanity.

Professor Pacey said: & # 39; It continues to show up in clinics and the message does not come to young men that it is a problem and a little info can save them a lot of heartache. & # 39;

Charities FRANK warns that users of IPEDS become addicted to the way drugs make them look and feel. The NHS warns that they are addictive.

People of all ages are known to be abusing the class C drug, which is the only drug in the UK that has seen stunningly increasing use.

An additional 19,000 young people had taken the medicine in 2016-2017, official data showed.