Poor fetal growth and maternal smoking reduce sperm quality, finds study

Researchers have found that the quality of early life in the womb, especially fetal growth and whether the mother smoked, has an important effect later on young men’s testicular health.

The team, from Perth, Australia, looked at the testicular volume, semen quality, hormone production, and body fat composition in 423 men aged 22 and 23 years born to a cohort of 2900 mothers enrolled in a study during their pregnancy in 1989-91 (the Western Australia pregnancy (Raine) cohort (www.rainestudy.org.au)).

They found that around one in six men had sperm characteristics …