Nicki Minaj turned many heads on Monday when she told her 22 million followers on Twitter that she refused to take the COVID vaccine to attend the Met Gala and that she planned to do more “research” before receiving the shot. He added: “My cousin in Trinidad will not get the vaccine because his friend got it and became helpless. His testicles swelled. Her friend was a few weeks away from getting married, now the girl has canceled the wedding.
A classic example of vaccine misinformation and how it spreads, Minaj’s message caused a ridiculous nightmare. Many speculated that her cousin’s friend acquired a sexually transmitted infection that derailed her marriage. But rumors like the one Minaj heard, especially about men’s sexual health, have been a common thread of the COVID vaccine conspiracies that really affect vaccine decision-making. And they hide a really alarming fact: COVID-19 itself, not the vaccine, can “last” in the penis and have serious effects on men’s sexual health. I called Dr. Aaron Spitz, a prominent urologist and author of The Penis Book: A Complete Doctor’s Guide to the Penis, to explain what current science tells us about what COVID really does to men’s bodies, the fears it has felt from its patients and why viruses like this only become real to some men when it comes to their cock . Our conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Aymann Ismail: What do we know now about how COVID can affect men’s sexual health?
Aaron Spitz: To the extent that we know that there is a separate and distinct problem that COVID is causing in men’s sexual health, apart from the lungs, heart and all that, there have been studies on fertility. In approximately 5 percent of cases, they find that there is a negative effect on male fertility in terms of decreased sperm count and their motility or movement. So, yes, it has been shown that when men become infected with COVID, and in particularly severe cases in this small percentage, it can have an impact on their fertility. It is not known if this is a lasting effect.
In a larger percentage of men, perhaps about 20%, a decrease in testosterone and an increase in hormones has been observed that the pituitary gland, a small gland located in the brain behind the eyeballs, secretes. to make the testicles. they produce testosterone and sperm. If there is something wrong with the testicles (if the testicles are injured and cannot produce as much testosterone and sperm as they normally do), the pituitary glands send this signal even further. Therefore, the fact that there were these men whose signals were higher and testosterone was lower indicates that the testicles were injured.
On the other hand, it could be that the types who inherently have poor testicular function, who already have lower testosterone, are the ones with the most COVID disease. It’s a question about chicken eggs: did they have a bad COVID because they had low testosterone or did COVID give them low testosterone? We do not know. But it is entirely possible that COVID caused them to lower their testosterone, as in autopsy studies of men who died of COVID, a small percentage of them had inflammation and lesions in the testicles themselves.
Does COVID have any particular effect on penises and erections?
If testosterone is lower, there may be difficulties with erections, as erections depend on testosterone so that penile tissue is healthy and allows blood flow. Therefore, low testosterone can decrease the health of the penis and its erection capacity. But again, there is no clear data on this with COVID.
There they are men seeking attention for erectile dysfunction and low testosterone because they had COVID, and it can be seen that this is why they have it. This is because a more common relationship between erectile dysfunction and VOCID is likely to be anxiety and stress. COVID scares people psychologically and is extremely stressful both physically and financially. Stress causes humans to release adrenaline to cope. And the adrenaline in humans makes the blood rush to the heart and lungs and the brain and liver to be able to cope with a physical attack, a physical stress. If stress is psychological, such as financial or situation, the body still responds with adrenaline. Stress makes erection difficult. If a boy is stressed by COVID, or if he is stressed because he has lost his job or lost a loved one, whatever it is, the adrenaline released at the time he is stressed can make erection difficult. And if a person is only chronically stressed, their adrenaline is released more chronically and this will also decrease blood flow to the penis. The stress component of COVID is much more likely to be the cause of erectile dysfunction than coronavirus itself.
What about the COVID vaccine: Is there any evidence that any of the COVID-19 vaccines can affect the penis or testicles?
There are not. In fact, one study showed that sperm count increased temporarily after the vaccine. It didn’t go down. And at the very least, it can be said that the COVID vaccine does not impair fertility in men and in fact increased the number of sperm a little after the vaccine.
There is no evidence that the vaccine causes a deterioration in testosterone production, causes inflammation or pain in the testicles, or causes erectile dysfunction. Now, a person may have a similar transient syndrome after the vaccine or after the booster, and it can feel really bad for a day or two. And during that time, they may not be able to perform well because they feel bad. It is because they have a strong immune response and it is only a temporary phenomenon. Now, for some guys, they may develop performance anxiety around this short-lived episode. It’s not uncommon for a guy who has normal sexual function to be off one night. And it may be because he is subject to the weather and will panic and think, “Oh my God, this had never happened to me before. This is terrible. Something happens to me. ”And the next time you go to have sex, you’ll have the idea in your head.“ Oh my God, what if this happens again? ”And that thought causes your body to release adrenaline, which then it decreases blood flow to the penis and causes it to have a bad erection.And it becomes a vicious circle.A boy may think he has erectile dysfunction due to the shot when it really comes to performance anxiety.
Is it possible that the testicles swell as a result of the COVID vaccine?
No. The COVID vaccine does not cause an infection in the body. The COVID vaccine stimulates your antibodies against the shell of the COVID virus, but it does not stimulate your antibodies against testicular tissue. It is not producing an immune response that wants to attack the testicle cells. While COVID infection can in fact attack the cells of the testicle because this virus binds to these cells and then can drop its viral load on the cells, then reproduce and then s ‘explodes itself. So no, the vaccine will not cause inflammation, swelling and pain in the testicles.
What would cause a man’s testicles to flex in this way?
The most common cause of painful swelling of the testicles is an infection. And in younger men, the most common types of infections are sexually transmitted infections, such as chlamydia, for example. And in older men, the most common cause of infection would be something like E. coli from their own intestinal tract. This would be the most common cause of a sudden and painful inflammation of the testicles that would come out in a day or two. And these are treated with antibiotics.
You know, the reason I’m asking you. It may seem random, but …
Nicki Minaj. Yes, I saw the tweet.
Tucker Carlson on Fox News just read the entire tweet from his TV show and said he “looks sensible.” What do you think was really going on?
Who knows? But it is not due to the COVID vaccine.
Do your patients often ask you about COVID and sexual performance in men?
I have more questions about fertility than sexual performance. I think there may have been news about these studies showing a decrease in sperm count, but I think it’s also a human concern. There’s something that makes you do terrible things: there are long-term syndromes, strokes, lungs, loss of smell, and then, “What will it do to my cock?”
Have you seen any misinformation you want to take advantage of this moment to dispel when it comes to how the COVID vaccine affects a man’s health?
The best I can say is that when male health has been studied in the context of the COVID vaccine, what has been shown is that sperm count improves temporarily. Wow. And nothing more. No other health effects have been demonstrated. No adverse health effects have been demonstrated. So I mean it’s pretty good!
And then the other thing I would say is that if you go to the Internet for information about your health, go to reputable sources like PubMed, which includes peer-reviewed journal articles that can provide the best information. It can be hard to understand what these articles say, but at the very least, you could take these questions to a doctor or go to the CDC. But don’t go on social media, celebrity sites or the dark net or any other place where people get this terrible information.
What would you suggest if someone like me cares about their own body this way? What is the best practice to address it?
The best practice is to try to get information from a medical expert and not from social media or from friends and family. Therefore, if you have the opportunity to make an appointment with a doctor, ask these questions to your doctor, you are likely to get the best possible answer. If you have access to a specialist, request an appointment, or have a conversation with an infectious disease specialist or urologist, even better. But at the very least, have this conversation and ask these questions to a doctor.
To be very clear, what is the biggest risk to a man’s sexual health: taking the COVID vaccine or not taking it?
The biggest risk is not getting the vaccine because it is very difficult to have good sex when you are dead.