Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Sperm Counts Among Western Men Have Halved In Last 40 Years, Says Study (theguardian.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the shocking-drop dept.

New submitter flote shares a report from The Guardian: Sperm counts among men have more than halved in the last 40 years, research suggests, although the drivers behind the decline remain unclear. 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 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%.

4 of 427 comments (clear)

  1. Wild guess by OrangeTide · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Obesisty?

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    1. Re:Wild guess by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Not sure if that is the cause, but the issue you describe is related to the fact that most fruits and vegetables these days are grown far away, and to save money on refrigeration, the fruit is picked green and allowed to ripen in transit. The downside is that the chemical processes are not the same as ripening on the tree/vine/etc. and you wind up with highly acidic produce lacking in some nutrients.

      --
      If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
  2. Re: So what? by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1, Interesting

    He is correct, or haven't you noticed that nobody is claiming that the conception rate has plummeted?

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  3. It's Because Women are a Pain in the Ass by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    That is the only logical explanation for this. Women are fucking impossible to deal with anymore. They cannot be satisfied no matter how much money you make, how much you work out, how much stuff you have, or how popular you are. You're never good enough.

    It gets to the point that you don't even want to reproduce with them anymore, and so your body's like "whatever, Ima shut down this sperm factory down here and use my energy to get better at minecraft instead."

    Not long ago a friend of mine and I were having a beer and he asked me, "you know, my wife thinks you don't like her; you never talk to her and blow her off when she tries to talk to you." And my response was, "she's right." I actually loathe the idea of interacting with females in any capacity. It's actually pretty fucking great, because it's so much less stress in my life. I'm not constantly having to walk on eggshells and jump through hoops.