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Khat plant 'boosts sperm power' By Caroline Ryan

Khat (baala/muka caatii isuma Oromia keessatti biqilu jechuu dha)

BBC News Online health staff in Berlin
06/28/04
A chemical found in the khat plant could boost the power of men's sperm,
researchers have found.
Lab tests by King's College London found treated sperm became fertile faster,
and stayed fertile for longer, than untreated sperm.
Khat is mild narcotic, producing a high when chewed, but its use has been
linked to long-term problems.
The study was presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and
Embryology conference in Berlin.
The researchers say their findings could lead to products to help couples
conceive.
It might be relatively easy to develop products
Lynn Fraser, King's College London
Chewing khat leaves, which is particuarly popular in parts of East Africa,
releases cathinone, a stimulant that produces the feelings of euphoria linked
with the plant.
When cathinone is broken down in the body, it produces chemicals including
cathine and norephedrine, which have a similar structure to amphetamines and
adrenaline.
The researchers from the Centre for Reproduction, Endocrinology and Diabetes
at King's College examined the effect of cathine on mouse sperm.
They found that the chemical accelerated the development of sperm, so it
reached the stage where it was fertile more quickly.
It then remained in this stage for longer than normal.
This is important because, when sperm meets an egg, it needs to connect using
a "lock and key" system.
If is past its 'peak', and its membranes are no longer intact, sperm will not
have its part of this mechanism, meaning fertilisation cannot take place.
Investigation
Early tests on human sperm suggest it is affected by cathine in the same way.

Other studies in rabbits have shown chewing khat leaves could also increased
sperm production.
However, there is some concern that prolonged use could actually damage
sperm.
Around seven tonnes of khat leaves are estimated to be imported into the UK
each week.
The Home Office is currently investigating the plant's long-term health
effects, following concern it may be linked to heart and mental health problems.
It is due to report later this year.
'Not a high dose'
The researchers say they will now carry out more analysis of human sperm.
Lynn Fraser, Professor of Reproductive Biology at King's College London, told
BBC News Online: "It might be relatively easy to develop products.
"Compounds related to the ones we studied are being used in over-the-counter
and prescription medicines, for dietary treatments and asthma."
"And the amount that's required isn't that high, so it's not a question of
taking very high doses and therefore becoming overstimulated."
She said khat-based products could be used to help couples who are having
trouble conceiving naturally, and in clinics as additives to sperm used in IVF or
artificial insemination.
Professor Fraser said if the research on cathine improving sperm production
was proven: "We could give it to men to improve sperm production, and to women
because it is in the female reproductive tract that the sperm go through this
process to become fertile."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/3845635.stm

Published: 2004/06/28 09:37:57 GMT

N. Korea Bans Mobile Phones for Citizens

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea (news - web sites) has banned citizens from using mobile phones since late May, an official of the communist state said Thursday, about a year and a half after it introduced the service to the nation. The reason for the ban was unknown.

"It is true that mobile phone use was banned around May 25," said a North Korean official attending economic talks with the South in the North's capital Pyongyang, according to a South Korean pool report from the talks. The official declined to elaborate, the report said.

No one on the streets of Pyongyang was seen using mobile phones and officials and foreign travel agents were lining up at hotels to use public pay phones, the report said.

South Korea (news - web sites)'s Chosun Ilbo newspaper has said the ban of mobile phones might have been imposed after the North's security service decided that a deadly train blast in the town of Ryongchon in April was triggered by mobile phones in a botched attempt to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Mobile phone was introduced in North Korea in November 2002, and the number of users increased to more than 20,000 by 2003, the Chosun Sinbo, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper published in Japan, said on its Web site.

Three quarters of South Korean's 48 million people carry at least one mobile phone in comparison.

Gasoline tops $2 a gallon