New proposed guidelines will mandate men’s health assessment by doctors, along with women’s
Associate Professor Tim Moss, a biomedical researcher and expert at men’s health organization Healthy Male, is unimpressed by the impending Spermageddon claims. In his view, studies reporting a massive sperm collapse since the 1970s are a case of “shit in, shit out.”
“We know that if you take a semen sample and send it to two labs, we will get different answers,” Moss says. “It’s not really definitive. It’s nonsense that produces unreliable results.”
Other fertility specialists Stamped data from the 70s as poor quality Because less sophisticated semen analyzes in past years may have overestimated sperm counts, and much of the historical data is missing important information, including the age of donors. Sperm counts fluctuate over short periods of time depending on factors such as arousal; A. 2015 survey It showed that when men were shown new porn videos, they ejaculated larger amounts of more lively sperm compared to porn videos they had watched before.
But there’s one thing experts on both sides of the Great Sperm Debate agree on: We know very little about a cell so vital to human existence. Scientists mobilized around this extraordinary statistics Among couples who undergo in vitro fertilization at least in part because of male fertility problems, 77 percent of male infertility cases remain unexplained.
The state of the data is so bad that even the male fertility rate is something experts can predict, says Moss: “Everyone says that up to 50 percent of infertile couples have a male factor contributing to it. But that data is based on a study conducted in three regions in France in the early ’80s. We don’t have good-quality data on the prevalence of male infertility.”
“The infertility data we use in Australia comes from the Women’s Health Survey, which asked women about their experiences of trying to get pregnant. We didn’t ask men.”
American professor Dr. Shanna Swan has declared that humanity is facing a “global existential crisis” following her research into sperm counts.
New male fertility guidelines launched this month call on doctors to evaluate both men and women from the start when couples seek fertility treatment. The guidelines aim to take responsibility for fertility treatment off women and improve outcomes for men; Regulations require men to drop their trousers for a physical examination, which can quickly diagnose easily fixable problems such as varicoceles (varicose veins in the testicles that reduce sperm production). But experts also hope that a greater emphasis on men’s reproductive health will shed light on what’s behind unexplained male infertility and address the lack of data.
What do the new guidelines tell general practitioners?
- Offer the concerned man and/or couple experiencing infertility an initial evaluation of male fertility. Evaluation should include reproductive history, physical (including scrotal) examination, and semen analysis. Compulsory.
- For the initial infertility evaluation, both male and female partners should be evaluated simultaneously. Compulsory.
- Submit semen analysis in accordance with the current WHO Laboratory Guidelines for the Examination and Processing of Human Semen. If the first semen analysis is abnormal, perform a second semen analysis approximately six weeks later, or longer if clinically indicated. Compulsory.
- Do not perform antisperm antibody testing in the initial evaluation of male infertility. Recommended.
- Do not routinely perform scrotal ultrasound in the initial evaluation of male infertility. Recommended.
- Recommend all men to perform monthly testicular self-exams until age 55. It is recommended.
Source: Healthy Male
Professor Rob McLachlan, medical director of Healthy Male and co-creator of the guide, takes a “guilty until proven innocent” approach to the role of PFAS and plastic chemicals, but believes most male infertility is probably down to genetics. While average sperm rates suffer, they generally remain well above the levels needed to conceive, and the decline in birth rates is due to societal pressures rather than sperm count, he says.
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However, the issue of sperm health remains vital for public health; men with higher sperm counts and faster swimmers I tend to live longer. McLachlan highlights factors men can control to improve sperm health.
“You shouldn’t be obese,” he says. “You should exercise. You shouldn’t smoke – it’s very bad for sperm. I’m very worried about this anti-vaccine craze. Your son needs to be vaccinated against mumps – if you get it after puberty it can lead to complete infertility.”
“Women are told not to smoke, not to drink and to lose weight before having a baby. We now know that it is equally important to be a healthy father during pregnancy, that is, to be well exercised before having the baby.”
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