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I know it sounds like a joke thread, but I have an actual question.

The awesome Stephen Fry mentioned in an old episode of QI I watched recently that removing a man's testicles would, on average, prolong his life expectancy by 13 years.

Not a very fun 13 years, I thought... but then got to thinking. Castration would, supposedly, pretty much destroy your libido... but why does Vasectomy doesn't? You're severing the connection your testicles have with a Vasectomy, right? Why doesn't it have a similar effect on the libido than removing the testicles all together?

I THINK I might know the answer (blood vessels still conected?) but I wanted to ask the wiser people in the forums... google was of no help.

Well, assuming the production of testosterone is the problem, a vascetomy doesn't inhibit the manufacture of testosterone or even sperm, it simply severs the connection for fertile sperm to become part of the semen and thus cannot fertilize an ova. That's also why they're not terribly difficult to reverse.

Castration, on the other hand, removes the source of testosterone from the body.

Are you sure he wasn't being metaphorical - since women, on average, live about that much longer than men?

I thought it was that your body still produced the sperm with a vasectomy, but it doesn't come out with the ejaculate anymore.

No, it's an actual interesting fact. The whole hormonal impact testicles have on your body actually decreases life expectancy. The Castratti lived much longer than average for the time, and there's been other studies.

And why DOESN'T a vasectomy inhibit the manufacture of testosterone if you're pretty much severing the connection they have with the rest of your body?

damn. I was hoping this was a slice of life advice poll.

Plus, they sing real pretty.

I'll be honest... all I know is what I just said. I'm not gonna pretend I can be more helpful.

Because you aren't. You're just snipped the tube that carries the sperm to the Vas Deferens, where it gets added to ejaculate. The testosterone is still carried through the bloodstream as normal.

Castrotti probably also lived longer because they weren't subject to the wear and tear of labor and its related injuried, and had little contact with others, which protected them against disease. I don't think the castration was the actual factor.

Calleja said:

And why DOESN'T a vasectomy inhibit the manufacture of testosterone if you're pretty much severing the connection they have with the rest of your body?

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It doesn't cut off testosterone to the body, only the flow of sperm to the rest of the semen. Only THAT tube is what gets severed. Testosterone is still able to get into the body. Trust me, my dad got one many years ago, and he is definitely not a man lacking in the testosterone department. The old man could still kick my ass if he wanted to.

Lying Bastard said:

Castrotti probably also lived longer because they weren't subject to the wear and tear of labor and its related injuried, and had little contact with others, which protected them against disease. I don't think the castration was the actual factor.

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Dude, I'm telling you, it's an actual study they've made:

Castration is also the quickest and cheapest of all of the hundred-odd treatments that have been used for sex offenders to date. Castration also extends the life expectancy of the men who are castrated by an average of 13.6 years.

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http://www.webspawner.com/users/castration/index.html

Sex offenders, eunuchs, etc. No balls = longer life.

Yes, that certainly looks like a reputable website. Tell you what, man, you give it a shot and tell us how it works out.

...it's the first one I clicked on, but it certainly wasn't the only one that mentioned it. Do NOT diss Stephen Fry and QI, you fiend. :angry:

Calleja said:

Dude, I'm telling you, it's an actual study they've made:

Castration is also the quickest and cheapest of all of the hundred-odd treatments that have been used for sex offenders to date. Castration also extends the life expectancy of the men who are castrated by an average of 13.6 years.

Click to expand...

http://www.webspawner.com/users/castration/index.html

Sex offenders, eunuchs, etc. No balls = longer life.

Click to expand...

Not entirely sure about that. While there seem to be some studies showing castration in various animals can extend their life expectancy, the same may not be true in humans, e.g.:

"One question of interest concerning castration in men cannot be resolved from the available data, namely the issue as to whether the life span of men is shorter than that of women because of the presence of testes or the absence of ovaries (and menstruation) (5). Indeed, there are no valid data indicating that castration has any effect on life span of men."
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/jcem;84/12/4324

"With reference to the effect of castration on longevity, a study I carried out on a group of castrated compared with intact singers born at similar times showed that life-span was unchanged "
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/86/4/1844

And here's an MD talking about a study he read about castrated mental patients:
"The castrated groupslightly outlived the others, and the excess in deaths in intact men, quite interestingly, was mostly due to tuberculosis..."
http://yarchive.net/med/castration.html

It also seems like the sites purporting that castration extends life expectency are also very pro-castration.

Testosterone is not the same thing as sperm.

Not to start this argument again, but castrating sex offenders is horribly barbaric.

but castrating sex offenders is horribly barbaric.

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True. A bullet to the head would be much more humane and to the point.

Calleja said:

...it's the first one I clicked on, but it certainly wasn't the only one that mentioned it. Do NOT diss Stephen Fry and QI, you fiend. :angry:

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Also, not to diss Stephen Fry, but I don't know that I'd take everything on QI as gospel truth. Just sayin'

By sex offenders, you mean rapists and pedophiles - Mario Lopez and Icarus, basically - right?

Did anyone else cross and uncross their legs uncomfortably several times over the course of reading this thread?

I didn't, no.

Oh man, bhamv made me burst out laughing so suddenly that I startled my cat and she scratched the living SHIT out of my exposed legs as she jumped off in panic.

Fuck you, bhamv.

Frosty Susan and the Shredding Pussy?

JK Rowling at her best.

Do those castration life expectency studies take suicide into account?

Calleja said:

No, it's an actual interesting fact. The whole hormonal impact testicles have on your body actually decreases life expectancy. The Castratti lived much longer than average for the time, and there's been other studies.

And why DOESN'T a vasectomy inhibit the manufacture of testosterone if you're pretty much severing the connection they have with the rest of your body?

Click to expand...

You're not severing blood vessels, just the vas deferine tubes which deliver sperm.

In short, you originally got it right.