Proof that guys think with their...?

February 19, 2007 2:31 PM

Researchers have discovered men with an unusual form of dementia have a higher rate of vasectomy than men the same age who are cognitively normal. Okay, so maybe it should be that men think with their cojones? But will this be enough of a risk to outweigh the declared benefits of this procedure?
posted by jeanmari (31 comments total)

I'm a bit confused. I look at the article and think that perhaps people with aphasia are more likely to get vasectomies, rather than vasectomies cause aphasia.
posted by Ironmouth at 2:34 PM on February 19, 2007

I had a whachamacallit and it hasn't caused me any problem with whatever.
posted by Floydd at 2:38 PM on February 19, 2007 [6 favorites]

Oh, and corleone does not equal clausewitz.
posted by Floydd at 2:40 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'm pretty sure it posits that the vasectomy causes the dementia. But it has nothing to do with thinking outside the brain... a vasectomy does not remove the testes, it only severs the vas defrens.

From the article:
Weintraub theorizes a vasectomy may raise the risk of PPA (and possibly FTD) because the surgery breeches the protective barrier between the blood and the testes, called the blood-testis barrier.
posted by noble_rot at 2:40 PM on February 19, 2007

it only severs the vas defrens

THIS is my new band name.
posted by tkchrist at 2:41 PM on February 19, 2007

This innernets has got balls on the brain today.
posted by The Straightener at 2:42 PM on February 19, 2007

Dammit Floydd, you beat me to the thingy.
posted by BrotherCaine at 2:42 PM on February 19, 2007

I meant "coronation does not equal causeway" of course.
posted by Floydd at 2:43 PM on February 19, 2007

What looks like the key to it is a few sentences on:

After a vasectomy, however, the protective barrier is broken and semen mixes into the blood. The immune system recognizes the sperm as invading foreign agents and produces anti-sperm antibodies in 60 to 70 percent of men.

The human immune system is immensely complicated, and if it "takes a dislike" to cells with your DNA in them, you'll be in for trouble. My guess is that this will turn out to be an autoimmune disorder.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 2:46 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

I agree with Floydd. There's a vas deferens between causation and correlation.
posted by Abiezer at 2:53 PM on February 19, 2007 [6 favorites]

The Blood-Testis Barrier was the last attempt to equalize trade imbalance between the U.S. and Europe prior to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:55 PM on February 19, 2007 [3 favorites]

Is the vasectomy performed on men against their will? In more cases than not? In that case then does it matter if there is some further risk since it is already punitive?
posted by nervousfritz at 2:58 PM on February 19, 2007

Is the vasectomy performed on men against their will? In more cases than not? In that case then does it matter if there is some further risk since it is already punitive?

I think it's elective more often than not. It's not like castration, which mostly just produces a higher percentage of countertenors anyway.
posted by katillathehun at 3:08 PM on February 19, 2007

Er, What? Punitive vasectomies?
posted by Richard Daly at 3:09 PM on February 19, 2007

Jeez, no wonder fritz is nervous.
posted by Faint of Butt at 3:10 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

Glad I didn't get that vasemongochoovoo...
posted by Samizdata at 3:19 PM on February 19, 2007

The benefits of the procedure include a next-to-zero chance of ever having children.

That seems well worth almost any risk, to me.
posted by UbuRoivas at 3:22 PM on February 19, 2007 [2 favorites]

Huh?
posted by davy at 3:35 PM on February 19, 2007

Well, balls.

I do wonder how this blood-semen breach is supposed to be occuring. It would be interesting to know what types or techniques of sterilization are associated higher incidences of dementia.

My guess is that old-school techniques are more highly associated with dementia than, say, the lastest "do it at the office" one-cut-and-clip methods.
posted by five fresh fish at 3:48 PM on February 19, 2007

(er, because my conjecture is that the latest techniques don't cause a lot of trauma, heal very quickly, etc.)
posted by five fresh fish at 3:51 PM on February 19, 2007

The three main methods of old school vasectomy are elastration or rubber ringing, emasculation by a bloodless castrator and surgical or open vasectomy. Whichever method is used, only fit and healthy men should be operated on. Additionally, vasectomy should never be carried out in bad weather.

1. Rubber Ring (RR) which causes scrotal necrosis and eventual shedding of the structures including the testes

2. Emasculator (e.g. Burdizzo clamp or Richey Nipper) which crushes the spermatic cord and causes irreversible damage to the vessels supplying the scrotum

3. Open or surgical method, where the scrotum is cut to reveal the testes which are removed by biting, tearing, cutting or twisting

These procedures have a profound effect on the patient's behaviour including increased rates of kicking, rolling, restlessness, foot stamping and abnormal postures.
posted by Floydd at 4:10 PM on February 19, 2007

I agree with Floydd. There's a vas deferens between causation and correlation.

Not if one thing happens before the other... In this case, the men developed the dementia decades after the procedure. Its still possible that a very minor form of the dementia makes men want a vasectomy, and takes decades before it progresses to the point it could be noticed, but that seems really unlikely to me. It's also possible that something causes both desire for vasectomies and dementia, but it definitely means that measurable dementia causes a desire for vasectomies.
posted by delmoi at 5:05 PM on February 19, 2007

...it definitely means that measurable dementia causes a desire for vasectomies.

No, it's just a correlational observation.
posted by Floydd at 5:14 PM on February 19, 2007

Perhaps there is a connection, and the men with the dementia are graciously self-selecting themselves out of the gene pool. Or even better, the dementia is not genetic, it's induced, probably by secret government rays, or something more sinister. It's either that, or I am forced to conclude that all men who get vasectomies are demented. And that it probably runs in my family.

"Facts schmacts. You can use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true." -H. Simpson
posted by Area Control at 5:56 PM on February 19, 2007

sign on wall of sperm bank "substantial interest penalty in the event of early withdrawal"
posted by bruce at 10:23 PM on February 19, 2007

aeschenkarnos--

The genetic material in the sperm isn't quite the same as the DNA in the rest of your body-- sperm are haploid, while the rest of your cells are diploid, SO THAT CAN'T POSSIBLY BE IT, NOPE, NO WAY, UH-UH. Nope.

/whistling in the dark. (Someone near and dear to me had the procedure earlier this year. I am really into the whole coordination not equalling cassowaries thing at the moment.)
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 11:45 PM on February 19, 2007

Joke or not, the words "scrotal" and "necrosis" should never appear in the same zip code.
posted by qldaddy at 5:56 AM on February 20, 2007

Selection bias, causal arrow, biological plausibility.
posted by ikkyu2 at 5:59 AM on February 20, 2007

i'm going to AskMeFi. i need some real answers.
posted by oigocosas at 1:48 PM on February 20, 2007

Wrong, qidaddy! I think I'm gonna start a band called Scrotal Necrosis. Who's with me?

(kidding, kidding...)
posted by bitter-girl.com at 2:00 PM on February 20, 2007

Dr. Weintraub will be heading to Stockholm for a nice little party in her honor in ~10 years.
posted by jamjam at 5:52 PM on February 20, 2007