Researchers warn that humans could face a reproductive crisis if action is not taken to tackle a drop in sperm count
According to a study published in the journal Human Reproduction Update, the average sperm concentration fell from an estimated 101.2m per liter to 49.0m per liter over the course of 45 years. The total sperm counts fell.
Sperm concentration has halved in the last 40 years according to research by the same team. The findings were limited to a region that included Europe, North America and Australia. Recent data from 53 countries is included in the latest study.
In Central and South America, Africa and Asia, sperm concentration declined.
The rate of decline seems to be increasing, as shown by the data collected in all continents since 1972. The decline was only seen when they looked at the data since 2000.
Something is wrong with the globe and we need to fix it. Prof Hagai Levine is the first author of the research from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Levine thinks that the percentage of men below this threshold will have increased since the latest estimate is above this threshold.
He said that the decline shows a decline in the population's ability to reproduce.
The study accounted for factors such as age and how long men had been without ejaculation, but excluded men who were known to suffer from infertility.
Allan Pacey, professor of andrology at the University ofSheffield, who was not involved in the work, praised the analysis, but he remained on the fence over whether there is a decline.
Even with the gold standard technique of haemocytometry, it's hard to count sperm. The development of training and quality control programs around the world has made us better at it. This is a lot of what we are seeing in the data.
Levine said that the decline has been more pronounced in the past.
Smoking, drinking, obese and poor diet are some of the factors that may affect sperm counts, according to experts.
Tina Kold Jensen is a professor at the University of SouthernDenmark. She said that it was scary to find the same trend no matter how many studies were included.
Prof Richard Sharpe is an expert in male reproductive health at the University of Edinburgh.
When a woman is in her 30s or 40s, time is not on the couple's side as they are not able to have a baby until she is old enough.
He said that this is bad news for couple fertility.
It's not just a problem for couples trying to have children. They are a huge problem for society as less and less young people will be around to work and support the elderly in the future.
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