13/10/2022
As Men's Weight Rises, S***m Health May Fall
A widening waistline may make for shrinking numbers of s***m, new research suggests.
Indian scientists studied more than 1,200 men and found that too much extra weight was linked to a lower volume of semen, a lower s***m count and lower s***m concentration.
In addition, s***m motility (the ability to move quickly through the female reproductive tract) was poor. The s***m had other defects as well, the researchers added. Poor s***m quality can lower fertility and the chances of conception.
"It's known that obese women take longer to conceive," said lead researcher Dr. Gottumukkala Achyuta Rama Raju, from the Center for Assisted Reproduction at the Krishna IVF Clinic, in Visakhapatnam. "This study proves that obese men are also a cause for delay in conception," he added.
"Parental obesity at conception has deleterious effects on embryo health, implantation, pregnancy and birth rates," Rama Raju explained.
How obesity affects s***m quality isn't known, he pointed out.
But in continuing research, the study team is looking to see if losing weight will improve the quality of s***m.
Although that study is still in progress, early signs look good that s***m quality improves as men lose weight, Rama Raju said.
One U.S. fertility expert said the findings have broad implications in America.
"About one-third of men in the United States are obese," said Dr. Avner Hershlag, chief of Northwell Health Fertility in Manhasset, N.Y.
America is getting fatter and fatter, despite the proliferation of new diets and exercise routines. And about one-sixth of children and adolescents are already obese, Hershlag noted.
"Along with the growing obesity trend, there has been a steady decline in s***m quality," Hershlag said. "The findings in this study, while not specifically related to infertility, represent a trend towards a decline that is worrisome."
Recent reports have found that extreme weight loss after bariatric surgery reversed some of the s***m decline, he said.
"The message to men is don't continue to abuse your body," Hershlag said. "Comfort foods and excess alcohol are bound to make you uncomfortable and put you at a higher risk for diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, which are all life-shortening, and may also put a damper on your path to fatherhood."
For the study, Rama Raju and his colleagues used computer-aided s***m analysis to assess the s***m of 1,285 men. Obese men, they found, had fewer s***m, a lower concentration of s***m and inability of the s***m to move at a normal speed, compared with the s***m of men of normal weight.
Moreover, the s***m of obese men had more defects than other s***m. These defects included defects in the head of the s***m, such as thin heads and pear-shaped heads.
All of these s***m abnormalities may make it more difficult for obese men to achieve conception, either through sexual in*******se or through IVF, the researchers said. But the study did not prove that obesity causes s***m quality to drop.
According to Rama Raju, this is the first study of abnormal s***m in obese men based on computer-aided assessment. The report was published online Sept. 19 in the journal Andrologia.
Computer-aided s***m analysis might be something doctors should do before IVF, he suggested.
Dr. Nachum Katlowitz, director of urology at Staten Island University Hospital, in New York City, pointed out that "the effect of obesity on s***m is another reason why Americans need to work on this epidemic."
The idea that obesity affects s***m is well known, he said. "There's no doubt we should take this information as another link in the chain to push us to help our patients obtain a healthy balance and a slimmer waistline," Katlowitz said.
SOURCES: Gottumukkala Achyuta Rama Raju, M.B.B.S., Center for Assisted Reproduction, Krishna IVF Clinic, Visakhapatnam, India; Avner Hershlag, M.D., chief, Northwell Health Fertility, Manhasset, N.Y.; Nachum Katlowitz, M.D., director, urology, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, N.Y.; Sept. 19, 2017, Andrologia, online
