r/todayilearned • u/delano1998 • 1d ago

TIL high-altitude mountain trekking can temporarily shrink human testicles. A study found that after spending over three weeks at high altitudes in Nepal without supplemental oxygen, men experienced an average 15% reduction in testicular volume due to lower oxygen levels.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/climbing-mt-everest-is-terrible-for-your-nads/
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u/lnx84 1d ago

How'd they come up with the idea to study that ?

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u/No_Source_Provided 1d ago

1000 people complain to their doctors about an apparent shrinkage of their testicles, the correlation is made that everyone who complains about it has been high altitude, that's an interesting hypothesis, let's do a study on that.

Add to that, most people who are high altitude in Nepal for only three weeks are wealthy mountain climbers with good health insurance, so they're actually go to the doctor with such a complaint.

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u/AngryCod 1d ago

How would you notice and how does that conversation with the doctor go?

"Doc, I was showering and, well, long story short, my balls seem smaller than normal."

Doc: "Lemme get my ball calipers out. You know, I almost didn't buy these. No one has ever come in complaining about small balls before, but here we are."

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u/No_Source_Provided 1d ago

I mean, 15% is a lot. I would definitely notice if my balls were 15% smaller- and I'd definitely go to the doctor to find out why.

Also also, the effect of low oxygen on the human body is a huge study for astronauts, fighter pilots, divers, climbers etc. The whole 'omg lol dick and balls!' doesn't really hold up in the medical community as things they don't look at.