Sperm of the French in bad condition

The decline in the quality and quantity of semen in men also affects their health and longevity.
  

Less numerous and of poor quality: alert on the sperm quality of the French! In a new report, Public Health France notes a sharp deterioration. "Between 1989 and 2005, a significant and continuous decrease of 32,2% of the spermatic concentration was observed" among the French, explains the last Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin, published this Tuesday. The study notes at the same time "a significant decrease (…) in the percentage of sperm of normal morphology".

If the study is based on a meta-badysis from 1989 to 2005, the authors say that "it is possible that this decline began in the 1970s if we take into account a study. previous conducted in the Paris region from 1973 to 1992 ". And, of concern to researchers, another study "observes no reduction in the decline in the most recent years (until 2011)".

The quality of sperm: "a global indicator of public health"

Not only do these results have consequences for the fertility of French men, but the authors also point out that sperm quality is a global indicator of public health . There is indeed a link "between poor sperm quality and an increase in mortality and morbidity in men from all causes".

France is not the only country concerned by this double phenomenon of declining fertility and deteriorating health. The most recent meta-badysis "confirms a linear decline in sperm concentration in Western countries (North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand) between 1973 and 2011 and quantifies it at 1.4% per year" badures the report. In France, this decrease is on average 2% per year from 1989 to 2005.

The continuous degradation of sperm could be due to several factors according to the researchers: "PE exposures [perturbateurs endocriniens] present increasingly and ubiquitous in the environment "but also" smoking in pregnant women "," nutritional or metabolic factors, air pollution or lifestyle changes (sedentary lifestyle, stress, heat, sleep) ". No factor seems, for the moment, to predominate over another.