According to an updated review of medical literature, a trend of falling sperm count by 50% has been noted across a period of 50 years.
If these findings are confirmed, and the supposed declines continue, researchers are worried that it could have important implications for human reproduction. Semen quality can be an important marker for overall health in general.
The review and its conclusions have reinvigorated an ongoing debate amongst experts in the field. Some say the findings are real and urgent whilst others are not convinced by the data collecting methods due to them changing over time.
The new analysis updates a review published in 2017 and includes data from Africa, Asia and South America for the fist time. Published in the Human Reproduction Update, around 3,000 studies recording men’s sperm counts between 2014 and 2020 were reviewed.
Ruling out various studies to make sure that they were only considering a ‘norm’ (excluding infertility issues, etc), just 38 studies met their criteria. The studies showed that sperm counts fell by slightly more than 1% per year between 1973 and 2018. Globally, the average sperm count was found to have fallen by 52% by 2018.
The causes of the alleged decline are unknown. Damage to reproductive health may begin in the womb, some researchers said. However, there is no cause for panic as the counts are still by and large normal.
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