Scientists debate whether sperm counts are really falling

BMJ 1998;316:1558 ( 23 May )

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Scientists debate whether sperm counts are really falling

Janice Hopkins Tanne, New York

The possible worldwide decline in sperm counts sparked lively debate at a symposium last week entitled Hazardous substances and male reproductive health, which was sponsored by the New York Academy of Medicine and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

A reported decline in sperm counts of around 1% a year between 1930 and 1990 attracted wide attention when it was reported by Dr Niels Skakkebaek, from the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen (BMJ 1992;305:609-13). However, a reanalysis of data in the paper showed there was no worldwide decline, said Dr Harry Fisch of the Male Reproductive Center at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, although there was considerable yearly and geographical variation (Fertility and Sterility 1996;65:1044-6). Most of the data between 1935 and 1970 are from the United States, where sperm counts were high, so what seems to be . . . [Full text of this article]

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