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Obese Men Have Worse Sperm Quality

Posted on: Wednesday, 31 December 2008, 07:40 CST

Size really does matter when it comes to sperm count, according to new research published in the journal Fertility and Sterility.

The study found obese men are more than three times as likely to have low sperm counts compared with their normal-weight peers.

The heaviest men were also at triple the risk of having sperm that swim forward in a straight line, said Dr. Ahmad O. Hammoud of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

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

Researchers note that future studies should study the relationship over time, and how weight loss might affect sperm characteristics.

They found body fat can contribute to lower testosterone levels and higher estrogen levels.

They evaluated 390 men who sought infertility treatment with their partners over a 2-year period to determine how body mass index affects sperm quality.

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

Obese men were 3.3 times more likely to have low sperm counts than normal-weight men, and 3.4 times more likely than normal-weight men to have a low progressively mobile sperm count.

Hammoud noted that the study was conducted among men seeking infertility treatment which makes it likely that the study group had worse sperm quality than the population at large.

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On the Net:

• Fertility and Sterility
• University of Utah

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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