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Sperm Count Unaffected by Many Lifestyle Factors


June 14, 2012 — Common lifestyle factors associated with low-motile sperm concentration (MSC) include a history of testicular surgery, black ethnicity, and being involved in manual labor, but no association was found with smoking, drugs, or alcohol use, according to new research.
Andrew C. Povey, PhD, from the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, and colleagues reported their findings in an article published online June 13 inHuman Reproduction.
According to the researchers, the "understanding of how the lifestyle choices of adult men themselves might impact on their fertility remains uncertain and often contradictory."
The current study examined lifestyle data of men recruited to the large multicentre Chemical and Pregnancy Study to identify factors that may contribute to low sperm count.
Participants included men who were part of a couple who had been attempting conception without success after at least 12 months of unprotected intercourse.
The authors collected data on 780 men with low MSC as well as data from 1469 referents (ie, men attending a fertility clinic who did not have low MSC). Participants were requested to abstain from ejaculation for a period of 3 to 5 days (depending on the clinic) before the clinic visit at which sperm count was measured. Low sperm count was defined as fewer than 12 × 106/mL motile sperm (moving forward at 5 μm/second or greater).
Risk factors for low MSC included a history of testicular surgery (odds ratio [OR], 2.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.75 - 3.28), being in manual work (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.07 - 1.53), being unemployed (OR, 1.78; 95% CI, 1.22 - 2.59), and having black ethnicity (OR, 1.99; 95% CI, 1.10 - 3.63).
According to the researchers, the increased risk in men of black ethnicity is of interest, but "the numbers are small and hence no strong conclusion can be reached."
It also remains unclear, after controlling for exposure to glycol ethers and other toxicants, why manual labor may contribute to low MSC, the authors note.
Conversely, consistent with some previous findings, men who wore boxer shorts (OR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.64 - 0.92) or who had previously conceived a child (OR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.60 - 0.85) were less likely to have a low MSC.
"No significant association was found with smoking and alcohol consumption, the use of recreational drugs, a high [body mass index,] or having a history of mumps or fever," the researchers report.
According to the researchers, the power of the study was sufficient to draw conclusions about common lifestyle choices, but the findings are less clear regarding exposures that are perhaps rare and poorly reported.
The "finding that use of street drugs was unrelated to low MSC cannot be assumed to apply to all such drugs and all patterns of use," Dr. Povey and colleagues write. "The case definition did not consider sperm morphology or sperm DNA integrity," they add.
The researchers note that their "study shows that common lifestyle choices, other than wearing tight underwear, make little contribution to MSC and that delaying assisted conception to make poorly evidenced changes to lifestyle is unlikely to enhance conception and may indeed be prejudicial in couples with little time to lose."
The study was funded by the UK Health and Safety Executive; the UK Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions; the UK Department of Health; and the European Chemical Industry Council. The authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

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