Plant May Improve Male Virility, Scientists Say

[CShine]

Men trying to boost their fertility may soon receive help from an unusual source -- a plant grown for centuries in East Africa and the Middle East. The leaves of the khat plant, which is also known as qat, are chewed for the feeling of euphoria they produce. But scientists at King's College London have discovered that they also contain chemicals that help sperm mature and fertilize an egg.

"We envisage the development of products that could be taken by individuals, either couples who might be having trouble conceiving or even those who have just decided to try to conceive, and who have no obvious problems," Professor Lynn Fraser told a fertility conference in Berlin on Monday. The chemicals could also be used as additives to sperm in fertility treatments, she added.

In studies of mouse and human sperm, the scientists discovered that amphetamine-like compounds which belong to a group of chemicals known as phenylpropanolamines (PPAs) stimulated and extended the final maturing process in sperm.

"These preliminary data suggest PPAs, at appropriate doses, might provide a new approach to enhancing natural fertility," Lynn said.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=571&ncid=751&e=2&u=/nm/20040628/hl_nm/plant_virility_dc

[MallRat]

1. So if I chew khat, can I keep my cell phone?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x650862

[SoCalDem]

2. Some entrepreneur will market a phone CONTAINING khat :)

:)

Instead of the bat phone...we will have the khat phone :)

[alfredo]

3. When in Africa, some US soldiers used to use it.

Bosses used to give khat to workers to increase productivity. In our area it was pronounced Chot. Ch as in chocolate, but harder.

[ze_dscherman]

4. Cathinone is a scheduled substance

I wonder how the "amphetamine like" substances would be classified ...

Some discussion on the legal status of khat plants I just googled up: http://www.entheogen.com/articles/pre-2004/interview_richard_boire.html

On edit some more on Khat: http://www.phc.vcu.edu/Feature/oldfeature/cat/cat.html

[Toucano]

5. More humans! More humans! More humans!

Yeah! POW, rest of planet!

We're #1!

We're #1!

We're #1!