Men’s sperm count around the world has dropped by 62 percent in less than half a century, a new Israeli study has found.
The study, conducted by Hebrew University and Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, found a 52% drop in sperm concentration and a 62% drop in the overall count from 1973 to 2018.
The rates are only accelerating, the study found, and is concerning for men’s health in general since low sperm count is associated with increased risk of chronic diseases.
“We should be amazed and worried by the finding,” said Prof. Hagai Levine from the School of Public Health in the Hebrew University.
“The trend of decline is very clear,” he told the Times of Israel. “This is a remarkable finding and I feel responsible to deliver it to the world. The decline is both very real and appears to be accelerating.”
The study pulled numbers from 10,000 scientific journals, and focused on hundreds of peer-reviewed studies from 53 countries.
“Our findings serve as a canary in a coal mine. We have a serious problem on our hands that, if not mitigated, could threaten humankind’s survival. We urgently call for global action to promote healthier environments for all species and reduce exposures and behaviors that threaten our reproductive health,” Levine told the news site.
Prof. Shanna Swan from New York’s Icahn School of Medicine, who led the study with Levine, said the drop in sperm counts are part of a broader decline in male health.
“The troubling declines in men’s sperm concentration and total sperm counts at over 1% each year as reported in our paper are consistent with adverse trends in other men’s health outcomes,” she said. “These include testicular cancer, hormonal disruption and genital birth defects, as well as declines in female reproductive health. This clearly cannot continue unchecked.”
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