Up to 1 in 3 men could become infertile after sperm counts drop by 60%
The men’s health crisis – routinely ignored by the government and politicians – continues unabated today with alarming news that sperm counts among men have more than halved in the last 40 years.
The latest findings reveal that between 1973 and 2011, the concentration of sperm in the ejaculate of men in western countries has fallen by an average of 1.4% a year, leading to an overall drop of just over 52%.
“The results are quite shocking,” said Hagai Levine, an epidemiologist and lead author of the study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
While infertility treatments such as IVF can offer solutions to potential ramifications of the decline on one level, little has been done to address the root of the issue, said Levine, pointing out low sperm counts might also be an indicator of poorer health among men more generally.
“This is a classic under the radar huge public health problem that is really neglected,” he said.
The study, published in the journal Human Reproduction Update by an international team of researchers, drew on 185 studies conducted between 1973 and 2011, involving almost 43,000 men. The team split the data based on whether the men were from western countries – including Australia and New Zealand as well as countries in North America and Europe – or from elsewhere.
After accounting for factors including age and how long men had gone without ejaculation, the team found that sperm concentration fell from 99 million per ml in 1973 to 47.1 million per ml in 2011 – a decline of 52.4% – among western men unaware of their fertility.
For the same group, total sperm count – the number of sperm in a semen sample – fell by just under 60%.
In addition, a less dramatic decline in sperm concentration since the 1970s was seen for western men who were known to have conceived with a partner, but there was no clear trend for total sperm count in this group.
Richard Sharpe, an expert in male reproductive health and professor at the University of Edinburgh, welcomed the study, saying the research has tackled many of the problems of previous analyses, adding that it “is about as close as we are going to get” to being sure of the decline.
But he stressed it still unclear what is behind the drop, meaning that it is difficult to address. “That is primarily because we have seriously under-invested in male reproductive research,” he said.
Levine agreed that research into potential causes was needed. Numerous possibilities have been mooted, with research suggesting links to body weight, a lack of physical activity, smoking, and exposure of pregnant women to chemicals found in myriad household products, known as endocrine disruptors.
Allan Pacey, professor of andrology at the University of Sheffield, said there is cause for concern around male reproductive function, pointing out that rates of testicular cancer are on the rise, and stressed that men who are concerned about their sperm count and who wish to have children should not delay.
“If you are a guy with a low sperm count and you try for a baby when you are 21, you are probably not going to notice you’ve got a problem,” Pacey said. “But if you are trying with your partner when she is 35 then that’s when the heartache comes, because by then you have got low sperm count, you’ve got an older partner and you haven’t got a lot of time to try and fix it medically.”
Speaking to Fathers4Justice, men’s health campaigner, Phil Morris, from cancer charity CheckEmLads said, “Men need testosterone to produce sperm, but too much of the female hormone oestrogen in the environment is effecting testosterone levels and this is having a devastating effect on men’s health.”
“Testicles are getting smaller, and along with this comes low sperm counts and increased risk of testicular cancer.”
“Most of all long term health problems are due to hormone problems such as diabetes, depression, heart attacks and weight gain in younger men and teens, all of which may significantly increase mortality rates among men.”
“CheckEmLads has been warning of this for 15 years but has had very little feedback from the government. Men with low sperm counts should seek advice on hormones, the guidelines on low testosterone are old and it’s said over 8 million men in the UK have male hormone deficiency which we have said can lead to many illnesses.”
“In our view, over exposure to environmental oestrogen is mainly to blame. It starts from when we are embryos in the womb and unless we address the high levels of oestrogen in food and water, then long term male health problems will increase. Even eating dairy products exposes men to high levels of oestrogen.”
“When you add it up, men are increasingly being feminised. Within 40 years 1 in 3 men could be infertile.”
Fathers4Justice founder Matt O’Connor said the findings were an alarm call for society.
“Beneath the cosmetic veneer of Love Island and the Premier League, men are facing an existential crisis.”
“Masculinity has become diseased. We have repeatedly called for a Minister for Men to coordinate a response to this public health emergency, including the ongoing suicide epidemic and mass fatherlessness.”
Read More Here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4729116/Western-lifestyle-making-men-infertile.html
http://mobile.nutraingredients-usa.com/Research/Cheese-linked-to-risk-in-testicular-cancer
