NUTRITION IN FERTILITY, PREGNANCY AND LACTATION NUTRITION AND MALE FERTILITY Angela Heap, Nutritional Therapist 12 Shaftesbury Road, London, N19 4QN United Kingdom angela@fertileground-nutrition.com
In the summer of 2017 researchers from Hebrew University and Mount Sinai medical school published a study indicating that sperm counts in the U.S, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand have fallen drastically by up to 59% since 1973. Data from the rest of the world was deemed to be insufficient to draw conclusions from, but there were studies suggesting that this figure could also indicate a worldwide trend. The paper was a meta-analysis by a team of epidemiologists, clinicians, and researchers that assessed data from 185 studies and samples were taken from almost 43,000 men of mixed age groups. Sperm counts went from 99 million sperm per millilitre of semen in 1973 to 47 million per millilitre in 2011, and the decline has been accelerating. Since this date, broad agreement exists about a general decline in fertility and the consensus is that the reasons are multifaceted and can be difficult to assess. The purpose of the study is to systematically review the data, possible reasons and also potential solutions to the question – are we heading for zero sperm in 40 years or less, and what can we do about this? Also is low male fertility a canary in the coal mine, and does this have implications for overall male health?
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