Fresh fears over men's fertility

[cosmocreator]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3362841.stm

Men's sperm counts have fallen by almost a third since 1989, one of the largest studies of its kind has found.
The findings add to the evidence which suggests a growing number of men may have problems fathering children.

Researchers in Aberdeen said their findings, based on 16,000 semen samples taken from 7,500 men, "cause concern".

They said that the average "normal" sperm count had fallen from 87 million sperm per millilitre in 1989 to 62 million in 2002 - a 29% drop.

Sperm quality

The findings of the study, involving men attending the Aberdeen Fertility Centre, were being presented at a British Fertility Society meeting in Liverpool on Monday.

Scientists said that while the fall may be a result of more men coming forward for treatment, further investigation was needed.

British men actually fare quite badly on the European stakes and the region of Europe which is known to have the highest sperm count is Finland

Dr Alan Pacey

They are now carrying out studies to find out if there has been a similar decrease in sperm quality, which can significantly reduce a man's chances of having children naturally.

"We cannot say that there has been a fall in male fertility on the basis of these preliminary findings," said Dr Siladitya Bhattacharya, who led the research.

"There has been an increase in men seeking treatment for male infertility, but whether this is due to a significant increase in this condition or because men are more aware of new techniques...we cannot say."

Dr Alan Pacey, an andrologist at the society, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the study added to the "jigsaw" of evidence on a possible decline in sperm counts.

He said: "British men actually fare quite badly on the European stakes and the region of Europe which is known to have the highest sperm count is Finland."

He said genetic factors were the key to sperm counts, but environmental and occupational influences also played a part.

Stem cell research

Meanwhile, a survey of couples undergoing IVF treatment suggests many may be willing to donate any leftover embryos for stem cell research.

Research on stem cells - the body's master cells - is controversial.

Scientists believe these cells hold the key to curing a wide range of diseases from Alzheimer's to cancer.

Embryos are widely considered to be the best source of stem cells, but many groups are opposed to their use.

The survey of couples attending the Newcastle Fertility Centre found that 57% of those asked agreed to donate their surplus embryos for stem cell research.

Professor Alison Murdoch, chair of the British Fertility Society, who led the study, said providing couples with information on stem cell research was vital.

"When people understand this issue they tend to look on it favourably. Scientists should not be afraid of engaging the public on this issue."

Clare Brown, chief executive of Infertility Network UK, welcomed the survey's findings.

"The results of this study highlight the fact that couples are keen to assist others whilst going through what is an extremely difficult, both physically and emotionally, treatment personally."

[cosmocreator]

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/waiwai/0304/0414seeds.html

Sweetners sink sperm
counts to sour levels


By Ryan Connell
Staff Writer

April 14, 2003





Shukan Jitsuwa (9/2) peeps in on the film set where police-harassed adult video star "Chocoball" Mukai makes his "comeback."

Shukan Shincho (8/26) jeers at the outrageous prices being charged for Japanese obento (box lunches) and onigiri (rice balls) at the Athens Olympics.

Shukan Bunshun (8/26) stumbles over the "useless" English vocabulary featured in Education Ministry-approved textbooks, which it stutters won't even help students pass high-school entrance exams.

Weekly Playboy (8/31) urges Japanese sports fans to gear up for "war" against Chinese team supporters between now and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Asahi Geino (8/26) claims that any woman's sexual idiosyncrasies can be easily gleaned at a glance from the configuration of her pubic hair.

The ins, outs and wherefores of costume play -- in which female sex workers dress up to affect the type of gal that nerdy men find most appealing -- is the subject of a detailed investigation in Spa! (8/24).

Patronize these "image clubs," winks Shukan Taishu (8/30), and you can have your lecherous way with gals dressed up to resemble bank tellers, stewardesses, race queens, nurses and (drool!) Shinto shrine virgins.

The 21 (September) looks at the "early morning and weekend revolution" during which wage earners can develop ways to become "petite riche."

Film director Takeshi Kitano tells Sunday Mainichi (8/29) that the secret of his family's success was in the way he and his siblings were "brainwashed."

Shukan Asahi (8/27) looks at which banks are safe to entrust with your 4-digit personal identification number. (Compiled by Masuo Kamiyama)


A Japanese researcher has sowed another seed of doubt in the minds of men who've known for years that modern lifestyles cause an enormous drop in sperm counts by claiming that artificial sweeteners used in bundles of varieties of food are causing spunk to lose its chunk, according to Shukan Post (4/25).

"One in seven Japanese couples looking to have a child are plagued by infertility," Yasushi Hojo, the Kyoto Prefectural University professor who made the claim, tells Shukan Post. "Disabled sperm, such as low sperm count syndrome, is one of the reasons for male infertility and can only be blamed on environmental changes and alterations of lifestyles and eating habits over the past few decades. I wanted to find out how much artificial sweeteners used in recent years have affected sperm counts."

Aspartame, an artificial sweetener created in the United States in 1965, is now used in a variety of substances through such brands as Equal and Nutrasweet. It is said to be 200 times sweeter than sugar. It was approved for use in Japan in 1983 and since found its way into a number of health drinks and low-calorie foods.

From November last year, Hojo carried out tests on lab rats to find how aspartame affected their sperm levels. He created four groups of four rats each, feeding one group on water and the remaining three groups with increasingly high levels of the artificial sweetener.

"Where the mice on water had an average of 25 percent of healthy sperm, that is correctly shaped sperm that moved directly forward, the other groups had a clearly lower level of healthy sperm, averaging only 16 percent each," Hojo says. "Even with dosages less than one-thousandth of accepted safety levels, artificial sweeteners were found to have an adverse effect on sperm levels. Of course, these experiments were carried out on lab rats, so you can't compare them directly with humans, but simple math suggests you'd only need consumption of 65 milligrams of artificial sweetener before it started to play havoc with the sperm count of a man weighing 65 kilograms."

Food giant Ajinomoto Co., which has a patent to use aspartame in manufacturing foodstuffs, isn't particularly worried about the findings at this stage.

"It's hard to judge on the data we've been presented with because the experiments were conducted using such a small sample of animals," an Ajinomoto spin doctor tells Shukan Post. "Aspartame has been confirmed safe using methods recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, which showed that it does not have an effect on the reproductive functions of sperm."

Other academics are also a bit cynical of Hojo's findings.

"They were tests carried out on mice for a week. It takes two or three months for humans to produce sperm, so until we have basic data on that it's impossible to judge the accuracy of the findings," Hyogo College of Medicine's Koji Kayama tells Shukan Post. "We'll have to wait to see a few more studies before we can know for sure whether artificial sweeteners really do cause a drop in sperm counts."