Among the factors that can most reduce a man’s fertility are, according to a new study by the National Institutes of Health and Stanford University in California (USA) are physically demanding work, high blood pressure and the intake of multiple medications.
“ Almost 15% of American couples do not get pregnant in their first year of trying. Male infertility plays an important role, and our goal is to explore the influence of environmental factors and health status on semen quality ”, explains Germaine Buck Louis, lead author of the study.
In their research, the scientists followed more than 500 couples for a year. All of them wanted to conceive a baby and therefore no longer used contraceptives. The male participants completed preliminary interviews about their reproductive history, health, lifestyle and professional activity, also leaving a semen sample for analysis.
The men had an average age of 31.8 years, were of white race and with university studies in their majority; furthermore, more than half had never gotten a woman pregnant. The results showed that 13% of those with a physically important job had low sperm counts .
On the other hand, their high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol were analyzed, discovering that only those who had hypertension had a lower percentage of sperm .
Lastly, the scientists found that men who took more medications had lower sperm counts . Thus, 15% of men who often took different drugs had a sperm count of less than 39 million (when the normal is to have between 40 and 300 million).
“The good news is that these factors, if confirmed to have negative effects on male fertility, can potentially be modified by medical care or change in work-related behaviors ,” explains Buck Louis, co-author of the work.
The study has been published in the journal Fertility and Sterility .
