Male sperm rates have dropped by more than half worldwide. Recently, a research article on this has been published in a UK-based journal. There, a group of researchers highlighted the issue. They said, if steps are not taken now to prevent the decrease in male sperm count, mankind may face a crisis in childbearing.
The research article was published in the UK-based journal ‘Human Reproduction Update’. The study was conducted on the sperm of 153 men who were not aware of their sperm productivity. News from The Guardian.
The study found that sperm concentration dropped by an average of 51.6 percent between 1973 and 2018. Apart from this, during this period (45 years) the rate of sperm decreased by 62.3 percent.
In 2017, these same researchers conducted a study on sperm rates. According to the study, in the last four decades, men’s sperm count has decreased by half. However, due to the lack of data from other regions of the world, the results of that study were only based on Europe, North America and Australia.
However, this time researchers have studied the sperm of men from 53 countries. In addition to Europe, North America, Australia, Central and South America, Africa and Asian countries, the issue of low sperm count has come up.
Analysis of data collected from all continents since 1972 has shown that the rate of decline in sperm production has been increasing during this period. Researchers found that men’s sperm count dropped by 1.16 percent each year.
But in this century the sperm rate is decreasing more. Because, the data after 2000 shows that during this time, the sperm rate of men decreased by an average of 2.64 percent every year.
Professor Hagai Levin of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, one of the authors of the research paper, said, ‘I think this study is another indication that the world is on the wrong track. We have to do something about it. It is a crisis. We need to take steps to deal with this crisis now before it reaches its final stage.’
However, experts believe that this research has some limitations. According to them, factors such as male age, period of non-ejaculation, low sperm production capacity are taken into consideration, but other aspects of sperm quality are not considered.
Experts say that smoking, drinking alcohol, obesity and not eating nutritious food can reduce the sperm count in men. A healthy lifestyle can help increase sperm productivity.