Sound pollution and men’s infertility

In New York, a man’s average hearing age is more than 12 years older than his actual age. That’s the impact of sound pollution on hearing.

But noise damages more than men’s hearing. According to a recent study, even relatively low levels of sound can make men infertile, especially when noise repeatedly disturbs sleep. Looking at eight years of health insurance data on more than 200,000 men ages 20 to 59, the researchers identified 3,293 men who were diagnosed with infertility. They then calculated an individual’s level of noise exposure by cross-referencing ZIP codes with info from the National Noise Information System. They all were exposed to noise levels above 55 decibels night after night.

So, guys, how can you keep noise from messing with your sleep cycle and your fertility?

1. Download a smartphone decibel checker; test nighttime sound levels in your bedroom.

2. Check if digital devices or appliances in your home exceed 55 dbs. If they do, turn them down or trade them in for quieter models.

3. Install double- or triple-pane windows; seal window frames with stripping. Use double-hung, extra-heavy curtain fabric.

4. Sleep with earplugs. (Discard foam plugs daily and clean reusable plugs regularly.)

Tomatoes’ powerful SPF

European aristocrats in the 1700s believed that they got sick from eating “poison apples” — their name for tomatoes. But, according to sources at the Smithsonian Institution, the fruit wasn’t the culprit; it was the pewter dishes loaded with lead, on which they were served.

These days we can focus on tomatoes’ remarkable healing powers. A study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism showed that women who consumed 25 milligrams of the polyphenol lycopene daily boosted levels of the health-protecting hormone adiponectin by 9 percent, and that reduced their breast cancer risk. (You can get that dose of lycopene from just 1/2 cup of your favorite tomato sauce!) Higher levels of adiponectin also are linked to lower risk for diabetes, heart disease and prostate, lung and stomach cancers.

And a recent study in Scientific Reports reveals that lycopene can help prevent skin damage from the sun. Mice fed a daily diet of 10 percent tomato powder for 35 weeks averaged 50 percent fewer skin cancer tumors when exposed to ultraviolet light, compared with mice that ate no dehydrated tomatoes.

Email questions for Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen to youdocsdaily@sharecare. com.