MadSci Network: Medicine |
Simon, You have asked a very good but also hard-to-answer question this time. No one knows at this time exactly why sperm counts seem to be declining in some countries. I was in Ukraine in the ‘90s to do research on males involved in the Chernobyl cleanup work from April 1986, and found that many young men that seemed very health by all other standards had reduced sperm counts as a group compared with American values. A reduced birth rate is also seen in Ukraine since 1986, but this may be due more to a fear of bringing a child into the world at this time rather than any overall problem with sperm counts. Most men that we looked at were heavy smokers and frequent alcohol users and the industrial pollution is thought to be rather high in many parts of Ukraine as well. We were absolutely unable to untangle all the possible factors (including the radiation, because the former USSR did not allow any form of dosimetry during this time of radiation exposure). Thus your question is still looking for an answer. Dr. Swanson
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