There are many public health crises facing the world, from obesity to clean water access and more. But one overarching report says there’s a different kind of health crisis going on: the decline of sperm count.
That’s right — there’s been a decades-long decline in sperm count for men in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, according to a review of 185 studies spanning 1973 to 2011 done by scientists from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Icahn School of Medicine in New York.
Specifically, that’s a 52.4 percent drop in sperm concentration and a 59.3 percent drop when it comes to total sperm count. The report was published Tuesday in Human Reproduction Update.
One researcher warns this issue is something that requires urgent attention.
“Given the importance of sperm counts for male fertility and human health, 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, with the goal of prevention,” lead study author Dr. Hagai Levine of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Faculty of Medicine said in a statement.
Levine spoke more pointedly to the BBC. “Eventually we may have a problem, and with reproduction in general, and it may be the extinction of the human species,” Levine said.
As NBC News notes, the research doesn’t explain why the decline is happening. But there’s a possible explanation.
“This definitive study shows, for the first time, that this decline is strong and continuing,” study author Shanna H. Swan said in a statement. “The fact that the decline is seen in Western countries strongly suggests that chemicals in commerce are playing a causal role in this trend.”
Studies have associated sperm count decline with environmental and lifestyle factors in the past like smoking, stress and adult pesticide exposure.
Sperm count doesn’t just apply to men’s fertility. “Male fertility predicts overall men’s health,” Dr. Joseph Alukal, a urologist at NYU Langone Medical Center, told NBC News.
Alukal suggests men maintain a healthy diet, not smoke, exercise and get better sleep if they want to be healthier and in turn keep their sperm count up.
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Men’s Sperm Counts Are On the Decline, Causing Concern originally appeared on usnews.com
