Obese men have low sperm counts than lean ones

BEIJING, Dec. 31 (Chinese medianet)-- Obese men are more than three times as likely to have low sperm counts compared with the normal-weight ones ,according to a studyin theFertility and Sterility quoted by media reports Wednesday.

The he

"There is a strong relationship between overweight and obesity and altered sperm parameters," according to Hammoud and his team.

Obesity may impair fertility in men, the researchers note, while increased body fat can contribute to lower testosterone levels and higher estrogen levels. To examine how body mass index (BMI) affects sperm quality, they evaluated 390 men who sought infertility treatment with their partners over a two year period.

24 percent of the men were normal weight, while 43 percent were overweight, and 33 percent were obese. Overall, 10.5 percent had low sperm counts.

The prevalence of low sperm counts rose as BMI increased; obese men were 3.3 times more likely to have low sperm counts than normal-weight men. The risk of having a low count of progressively mobile sperm also rose with BMI; obese men were 3.4 times more likely than normal-weight men to have a low progressively mobile sperm count. Obese men were also 1.6 times more likely than overweight or normal-weight men to have a high percentage of abnormally shaped sperm.

The factmakes it likely that the study group had worse sperm quality than the population at large, Hammoud and colleagues point out.

(Agencies)