Thanks for this, isabel. I’ve only just become interested in this topic but your post is the second most useful thing I’ve read on it so far.
As for the most useful thing I’ve read, you say:
So far, even taking the claims at face value, average sperm counts everywhere are still within the healthy range and not indicative of trouble conceiving [11]. But if the decline is real and it continues, this will eventually stop being true, and in the interim infertility will rise.
While I’ll confidently dismiss the claim that sperm counts (in the West?) are set to hit zero by 2045, as one of the authors of this study, Shanna Swan, claimed[12], does it seem to be the case that sperm counts are consistently falling globally?
I’m more worried about declining sperm count eventually leading to (accelerating?) trouble conceiving globally after reading the abstract for the second study conducted by these authors, published in November 2022:
This analysis is the first to report a decline in sperm count among unselected men from South/Central America–Asia–Africa [p=0.045], in contrast to our previous meta-analysis that was underpowered to examine those continents. Furthermore, data suggest that this world-wide decline is continuing in the 21st century at an accelerated pace.
Thanks for this, isabel. I’ve only just become interested in this topic but your post is the second most useful thing I’ve read on it so far.
As for the most useful thing I’ve read, you say:
I’m more worried about declining sperm count eventually leading to (accelerating?) trouble conceiving globally after reading the abstract for the second study conducted by these authors, published in November 2022: