Sperm count falling sharply in developed world, researchers say

By Kate Kelland

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Sperm counts in men from America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand have dropped by more than 50 percent in less than 40 years, researchers said on Tuesday.

 

They also said the rate of decline is not slowing. Both findings -- in a meta-analysis bringing together various studies -- pointed to a potential decline in male health and fertility.

 

"This study is an urgent wake-up call for researchers and health authorities around the world to investigate the causes of the sharp ongoing drop in sperm count," said Hagai Levine, who co-led the work at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine in Jerusalem.

 

The analysis did not explore reasons for the decline, but researchers said falling sperm counts have previously been linked to various factors such as exposure to certain chemicals and pesticides, smoking, stress and obesity.

 

This suggests measures of sperm quality may reflect the impact of modern living on male health and act as a "canary in the coal mine" signaling broader health risks, they said.

 

Studies have reported declines in sperm count since the early 1990s, but many of those have been questioned because they did not account for potentially major confounding factors such as age, sexual activity and the types of men involved.

 

Working with a team of researchers in the United States, Brazil, Denmark, Israel and Spain, Levine screened and brought together the findings of 185 sperm count studies from 1973 to 2011 and then conducted a so-called meta-regression analysis.

 

The results, published in the journal Human Reproduction Update, showed a 52.4 percent decline in sperm concentration and a 59.3 percent decline in total sperm count among North American, European, Australian and New Zealand men.

 

The former measures the concentration of semen in a man's ejaculation, while the latter is semen concentration multiplied by volume.

 

In contrast, no significant decline was seen in South America, Asia and Africa. The researches noted, however, that far fewer studies have been conducted in these regions.

 

Experts asked to comment on the work said it was a comprehensive and well-conducted analysis and did a good job of adjusting for confounders that could have skewed its findings.

 

Daniel Brison, a specialist in embryology and stem cell biology at Britain's Manchester University, said the findings had "major implications not just for fertility but for male health and wider public health".

 

"An unanswered question is whether the impact of whatever is causing declining sperm counts will be seen in future generations of children via epigenetic (gene modifications) or other mechanisms operating in sperm," he said in an emailed comment.

 

Richard Sharpe at Edinburgh University added: "Given that we still do not know what lifestyle, dietary or chemical exposures might have caused this decrease, research efforts to identify (them) need to be redoubled and to be non-presumptive as to cause."

 

(Reporting by Kate Kelland Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-7-26

Shocking!....lower sperm count?...I'll STOP right away from j*r**nG off behind the computer and TV!!

There's probably a few reasons why & BPA seems to be one of them

Link: Dr. Mercola

that would account for my weight loss

Sperm count falling sharply in developed world, researchers say

 

Yeah, I've noticed that. Last time I got tested the quack said my per milliliter sperm count had dropped from four or five million to two. I wasn't too concerned. Considering I am not exactly in my prime, two million little Krataiboys per squirt was nothing to be ashamed of, I suggested.

 

My GP smiled the way doctors do before informing you that you have an incurable terminal illness. 

 

"Not two million, old sport," he said. "Just two."

Perhaps nature is adjusting us naturally in alignment with our medical improvements....wheres Darwin when you need him. Noticeable that the study catchment is well developed western cultures with advanced medical health. With survival rates in those areas now where they are we are not needing to have 10 children so that 2 survive the sager-tooth tigers, the pox's and flu and child birth itself, to look after us when we are old. It would be interesting to go into a famine and war areas of Africa for example where stress and smoking would be factors but perhaps not chemical use and certainly not obesity, and test counts there. 

 

 

The Illuminati plan to depopulate the earth by chemtrails must be working lol

9 hours ago, soalbundy said:

that would account for my weight loss

How much of it do you eat?

40 minutes ago, canuckamuck said:

How much of it do you eat?

That is disgusting, I was referring to the loss in bulk of my own production (you should have used a smiley)

2 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

That is disgusting, I was referring to the loss in bulk of my own production (you should have used a smiley)

  Belated smiley 

3 hours ago, godblessemall said:

The Illuminati plan to depopulate the earth by chemtrails must be working lol

Yeah, people do get into their conspiracies, not sure what is actually behind chemtrails but all the other stuff like vaccines, Genetically modified, pesticides seem to be about profit with no regard to who or what gets damaged, basic sociopath CEOs.

 

As to sperm count probably environmental/lifestyle, hardly surprising.

As long as they're still amenable to being shot out of a cannon 2-3 times a day, that's fine by me.

I thought you weren't supposed to count your sperms before they hatch, or something like that.

 

T

Many researchers are disputing this 'research'. And looking at that information I tend to believe the critics of this one.

Maybe natures way of saying too many people. There are examples in the animal kingdom where a sort of birth control governs the numbers. Rabbits surprisingly have their numbers suppressed when the colony gets too large, due to stress the embryo gets absorbed into the body of the mother, that is just one example.

14 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

Sperm count falling sharply in developed world, researchers say

 

Yeah, I've noticed that. Last time I got tested the quack said my per milliliter sperm count had dropped from four or five million to two. I wasn't too concerned. Considering I am not exactly in my prime, two million little Krataiboys per squirt was nothing to be ashamed of, I suggested.

 

My GP smiled the way doctors do before informing you that you have an incurable terminal illness. 

 

"Not two million, old sport," he said. "Just two."

Do you take hormones? This might explain it.

What a thankless and boring job ......counting sperm in a petri dish.

 

' one million and fifteen, one million and sixteen, one million and seventeen.'

 

I bet if they lose count they don't start again .

Look at the average woman in these developed countries. Perhaps the male system requires some stimulus huh.

Does it have anything to do with the lifestyle and modernization me thinks.

I think overall people in South America and Asia (and maybe Africa?) have happier lifestyles, despite lower quality of life and shorter life expectancy in most rankings.

23 minutes ago, Grubster said:

Look at the average woman in these developed countries. Perhaps the male system requires some stimulus huh.

Looking at the average Western male, maybe it's the women sending out anti-pheromones that are affecting the sperm production. 

 

T

Funny story...my ex wife couldn't get pregnant when we were married (wish I new that before) I had to have sperm count so gave the sample in a bottle to my sister in  law in a bag so my wife could take it to the lab. Turns out I was fine but latter my wife had a  hemorrhage overy (sp). The doctor remover it and she finally got pregnant after 10 years of trying.

 

 

1 hour ago, alocacoc said:

Do you take hormones? This might explain it.

Cheeky!

Sense of deja vu here - I can recall reading this years ago.

Men are being emasculated by western society.

13 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

Cheeky!

Please forgive me if hurt you.

This is what comes of squeezing into skimpy, tight Italian underwear. It has been reported before.

Internet porn availability. Likely the the same count over a week just spread over more doses.

The OP reminded me of this Limerick:

 

A surly and pessimist Druid,
A defeatist, if only he knew it,

Said, "The world's on the skids,
"And I think having kids
"Is a waste of good seminal fluid."

 

T

Interesting. These are all areas of the world where even using the word 'man' is considered a PC crime. And don't say 'amen' to that; it's 'aperson', or maybe 'apersibling'. 

8 hours ago, Mac98 said:

Interesting. These are all areas of the world where even using the word 'man' is considered a PC crime. And don't say 'amen' to that; it's 'aperson', or maybe 'apersibling'. 

By Jove, you've cracked it!

 

Showing respect for women causes Male infertility. We've been emasculating ourselves by our own darned considerateness 

 

These females are diabolical I tell you.