Pool Party

Visitors to the Switzer Cove home of Ron Lorenz and Dianne Wilson in Ocean Springs will never wonder whether their hosts like the water.

Often the party place for the whole neighborhood, the house's open design helps guests feel both comfortable and festive at their own pace and has a swimming pool that acts like a people magnet.

There's also a hot tub, a sauna, a large aquarium and, in the master bedroom that adjoins the pool room, a free-standing Jacuzzi. The house is 5,500 square feet and has four bathrooms and four bedrooms, one used as an exercise room.

Three years ago Lorenz transformed his traditional L-shaped ranch-style house built in 1972 into a fantasy water world where all halls flow toward a 2,200-square-foot pool house. The area enjoys indoor comforts while basking under 180-degree, horizon to horizon murals of outdoor beaches, boating and sea life.

Hot Tubs Hurt Fertility, Study Says

Exposure to hot baths or hot tubs can lead to male infertility, according to a new study at the University of California, San Francisco.

But the effects can sometimes be reversible, a news release said.

"We now have actual evidence to show patients that these recreational activities are a real risk factor for male infertility," said Dr. Paul J. Turek, a urologist who led the study.

"These activities can be comfortably added to that list of lifestyle recommendations and 'things to avoid' as men attempt to conceive," he said.

Turek said this is the first published study to show that total body exposure to wet heat can impair both sperm production and motility. Previous work showed that dry heat -- such as from a fever -- has the same effect.