These Lifestyle Factors Are Linked To Sperm Damage

By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) – - Certain lifestyle factors are linked to higher rates of damage in the genetic material in men’s sperm, a study suggests.  The damage - which may stem from factors like obesity, stress and even cell phone use - could affect men's ability to conceive as well as the genes passed to their children, researchers say. Semen analysis usually looks at the numbers and the condition of whole sperm. But the authors of a small study in Poland believe the degree of breakage, or fragmentation, in DNA strands in the sperm might be a better indicator of fertility. DNA carries the cell's genetic information and hereditary characteristics. Men with fragmentation have lower odds of conceiving naturally and through procedures like in vitro fertilization, they write in the International Journal of Impotence Research. Researchers have noticed before that lifestyle factors can influence the level of sperm DNA fragmentation, said Ricardo P. Bertolla of Sao Paulo Federal University in Brazil, who was not part of the new study. “More importantly, we do expect that environmental and lifestyle factors may influence male fertility, but the degree of response is highly variable among individuals,” Bertolla told Reuters Health by email. Dr. Marian Radwan of Gameta Hospital in Rzgow, Poland, focused their study on 286 men under age 45 who were attending an infertility clinic. Radwan did not respond to a request for comment. Most of the m...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news