BioEdge: Are sperm counts declining around the world?

BioEdge: Are sperm counts declining around the world?



Saturday, April 14, 2018 

Mahatma Ghandi reputedly said, “A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.” We could paraphrase this in a contemporary context: a nation’s right-to-die laws are measured by how it treats the disabled.

Our lead story this week deals with the euthanasia of patients with an intellectual disability or autism in the Netherlands. Four bioethicists suggest that the necessary safeguards are lacking in these cases.

That is bad enough. But they go on to point out that the disabled have to deal with nigh-intolerable suffering for their whole lives. How does legal euthanasia make them feel? In the words of another author, “If society endorses the right of a person to seek physician assistance to end his or her life because of increasing loss of functional autonomy, what does that say about how our society values the lives of people who live with comparable limitations every day of their lives for years on end?”

Michael Cook Editor BioEdge

NEWS THIS WEEK

How do the Dutch respond to euthanasia requests from the intellectually disabled?

by Michael Cook | Apr 14, 2018

Not with great insight or sensitivity, according to a recent study

Assisted suicide has slow take-up in DC

by Michael Cook | Apr 14, 2018

Only two doctors have signed up

Wanted: ideologically sound Chinese sperm. Willing to pay top renminbi

by Michael Cook | Apr 14, 2018

Must also love the socialist motherland

In post-one-child-policy China posthumous conception is a matter of desperation

by Michael Cook | Apr 14, 2018

Grandparents sue to perpetuate bloodline

The contradictions of commercial surrogacy

by Michael Cook | Apr 14, 2018

Why are the mothers left holding the baby if the parents walk?

CRISPR on the rampage

by Michael Cook | Apr 14, 2018

Especially in Chicago where a CRISPR gorilla runs amok

Are sperm counts declining around the world?

by Michael Cook | Apr 14, 2018

The fall appears to be strong and continuing

Macron encourages French bishops to speak out on bioethics

by Xavier Symons | Apr 14, 2018

Society needs to be reminded of the transcendent.

Tongue splitting, bodily harm, and human dignity

by Xavier Symons | Apr 14, 2018

Is there something wrong with consensual tongue splitting?

Are crisis pregnancy centres unethical?

by Xavier Symons | Apr 14, 2018

A recent article in the AMA Journal of Ethics says "yes".

IN DEPTH THIS WEEK

‘Right to try’ bills passed in US Congress: more harm than good?

by Patrick Foong | Apr 14, 2018

The FDA has a real role to play and should not be sidelined

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Are sperm counts declining around the world?

by Michael Cook | 14 Apr 2018 |

     

Several studies have reported a significant decline in sperm concentration and total sperm count among men from Western countries. Moreover, given recent findings that reduced sperm count is related to increased morbidity and mortality, the ongoing decline points to serious risks to male fertility and health. A recently-released video from The Economist outlines the problem.



Sperm count has previously been plausibly associated with environmental and lifestyle influences, including prenatal chemical exposure, adult pesticide exposure, smoking, stress and obesity. Therefore, sperm count may sensitively reflect the impact of the modern environment on male health across the lifespan and serve as a "canary in the coal mine" signalling broader risks to male health.