On call: Male fertility
Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School
On call: Male fertility
On call
Male fertility
Q. I've heard that men are making fewer sperm cells than they used to, and birth rates may suffer. What’s the latest information?
A. In the early 1990s, scientists in Europe raised worldwide concern when they reported a dramatic 42% fall in sperm counts between 1940 and 1990. Almost immediately, American doctors entered the debate; most reported that sperm counts on this side of the Atlantic were holding steady. And a recent analysis confirmed the reassuring news. Researchers evaluated 29 American studies performed between 1938 and 1996. If the results were pooled, they seemed to show a fall in sperm counts. But when the scientists took geographic variation into account, they found that American men are producing as many sperm in the ’90s as they did in the ’30s and ’40s.
— Harvey B. Simon, M.D. Editor, Harvard Men’s Health Watch
| Last updated: | August 21, 2006 |
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Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.
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