Sperm concentration and total sperm count have significantly and steadily declined in Western men, a study has found. Researchers from Hebrew University in Israel and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, US carried out the first systematic review and meta-analysis of trends in sperm count. By screening 7,500 studies and analysing 185 studies between 1973 and 2011, they found a 52.4 percent decline in sperm concentration, and a 59.3 percent decline in total sperm count, among men from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand who were not selected based on their fertility status.
Therefore, sperm count may sensitively reflect the impact of the modern environment on male health across the lifespan and serve as a "canary in the coal mine" signalling broader risks to male health, they said. In contrast, no significant decline was seen in South America, Asia and Africa, where far…
