In modern society, people pay more and more attention to health. Every year, the unit will arrange routine health examination. There is an essential item in the physical examination, chest X-ray examination or X-ray plain film examination.
We all know that X-ray examination has radiation, and those couples who are ready to have children will have many questions:
Does X-ray Examination Affect Sperm Quality?
Can I have a child immediately after X-ray examination?
After taking the X-ray, I was pregnant soon. Can the child have it?
Let’s not worry first. Before answering these questions, let’s first learn about X-ray and CT, which are related to ionizing radiation.
Effect of Ionizing Radiation on Sperm Quality
Ionizing radiation can induce DNA damage, cause chromosome structure abnormality of spermatogenic cells in human body, and cause apoptosis of spermatogenic cells. The degree of damage increases obviously with the increase of irradiation dose.
Spermatogenic cells are very sensitive to ionizing radiation. After receiving large doses of ionizing radiation, semen quality usually reaches its lowest point 4-6 months after exposure, and it takes 10-18 months to fully recover.
Therefore, large doses of ionizing radiation have certain effects on fertility. Receiving large doses of radiation in a short period of time or long-term low doses of radiation may lead to male infertility.
So, what dose is dangerous?
For example, nuclear leakage from nuclear power plants, for example, belongs to high-dose radiation, while doctors who have been engaged in intervention work for a long time can also be regarded as long-term exposure to low-dose radiation if the protective measures are improper, which is risky.
However, the influence of an X-ray or CT can be ignored.
There is a very classic saying that to talk about toxicity regardless of dosage is to play rascal.
The concept of radiation threshold effects means that under this dose, it is regarded as not harmful to human body. Beyond the threshold, the degree of damage is proportional to the dose.
It is generally believed that the threshold value for the intellectual impact on the fetus is 0.2 ~ 0.4 Gy. The medical examination X-ray, chest X-ray and CT we usually receive in the hospital are all below 0.05 Gy, which belong to low dose radiation and are reversible injuries. Theoretically, they can completely recover after stopping radiation for a period of time and have no great impact on the body.
CT, like X-ray, relies on radioactive substances for examination. The radiation dose of CT is much larger than that of X-ray. Sometimes, for the needs of medical diagnosis, doctors also weigh the pros and cons before requiring patients to undergo multiple CT examinations in a short period of time.
However, there is no need to worry too much. In this case, the reproductive system will not be greatly affected.
It should be noted that the principles of magnetic resonance examination (MRI) and CT examination are different. They do not belong to the examination with ionizing radiation and there will be no possible harm of ionizing radiation. Therefore, if magnetic resonance examination is carried out, there is no need to worry about its influence on germ cells.
There is no need to change the pregnancy preparation plan because of one examination.
Physical examination or radiological examination with radiation for other reasons generally does not affect sperm quality or pregnancy preparation.
No matter men or women have undergone an X-ray and CT examination, there is no need to delay pregnancy preparation.
If such examinations are carried out many times in a short period of time, for example, some diseases need to be confirmed by repeated CT examinations, or some operations need to be carried out, and X-ray equipment needs to be used for assistance during the operation. Under these circumstances, proper attention should be paid when preparing for pregnancy.
The whole development cycle of sperm is about 3 months.
The survival time of mature sperm in the body is usually about 2 weeks, and the irradiated part of mature sperm will disappear after 2 weeks at most.
Most immature sperm, if irradiated, cannot develop and mature.
To be on the safe side, after receiving multiple medical radiation tests in a short period of time, you can wait three months to check sperm motility before preparing for pregnancy.
The fetus cannot be lost due to X-ray examination.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that it is not necessary to terminate the pregnancy for the sake of medical diagnostic imaging during and before pregnancy. Therefore, it is not necessary for a woman to lose the fetus due to radiation when she successfully conceives.
Although X-ray and CT examinations have no great influence on pregnancy preparation, ionizing radiation is an environmental factor with great harm. We should try our best to avoid contact with radioactive substances and reduce the number of times we receive ionizing radiation. If possible, during pregnancy preparation, radioactive examination or treatment should be avoided as much as possible.