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--:-- Host: Are we facing a global fertility crisis? Many scientists and medical experts say we could be, after the largest study ever conducted on male fertility found that testosterone rates have plummeted over the last 50 years, while sperm counts have dropped by half worldwide. On this Sunday episode of Morning Wire, we look into what's causing the rapid decline, and we hear from a doctor who led the study about what can be done to reverse the dangerous trend.
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--:-- Host: Here to discuss what's being called the male fertility crisis is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So Cabot, obviously a lot to get to, but first let's get an overview. When did this first start to become an issue? So when people think of fertility and reproductive struggles, the conversation often centers around women and their ability to conceive. But researchers and doctors are now sounding the alarm that men are increasingly at risk of infertility due to plummeting sperm counts and rapidly falling testosterone rates.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We'll start back in the year 2017, when an international team of researchers, one of whom we'll hear from in a bit, published a study in Oxford University's Human Reproduction Update, a renowned medical journal. The researchers claimed that sperm counts had dropped by 50% over the last few decades and coincided with a similar drop in testosterone. So that sounds like shocking and concerning news.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: What was the reaction to that study? Well, that's the thing. It made some headlines back at the time, but it was largely swept under the rug. A number of scientists, including a group of influential researchers at Harvard, questioned the legitimacy of the claims and pointed out that the men in the studies they looked at came primarily from Western countries and likely were not indicative of a worldwide trend. Basically, they were accused of cherry-picking data.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So the researchers responded by launching the largest study on sperm count ever, conducting a giant meta-analysis of over 200 studies that this time included men from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. And they found that not only was the problem impacting men worldwide, but that it was far worse than they originally thought. Since 1970 they found there has been a 62% drop in the average male sperm count. 62% That's a staggering drop.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now how low have they gotten at this point? So according to researchers from 1970 to 1999 they found sperm counts had dropped by about 1.1% annually. But since 2000, they've started to drop at a much faster rate, falling by around 2.6% per year. For context, in 1970, the average man had 104 million sperm per milliliter of semen. Today, that number is 49 million per milliliter. And doctors warn that once you get below 45 million, your odds of struggling with fertility start to compound with each further drop of 5 million.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: That means that if the current rates continue, and again, we've seen no sign of this trend slowing down, the average man will be well into the infertility danger zone within the next decade. I spoke with Dr. Haggai Levine, a renowned researcher and epidemiologist who was the co-author of that groundbreaking study. Here's how he put it.
--:-- Dr. Haggai Levine: From 1973 to 2018, what we found is a surprising, dramatic decline in sperm count all over the world, globally, in all continents together. There was a more than 50% decline in both measures, the sperm concentration and total sperm count. Furthermore, so we think that these findings are alarming and should be concerned to everyone around the world.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So the million-dollar question, what's causing this drop? Yeah, that is the big one. There are a ton of factors and theories to get into. Obviously, we don't have time to get into them all. So we'll stick with two main categories, lifestyle and chemicals. We'll start with lifestyle.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: There are a number of things that we now know disrupt sperm production and also cause testosterone levels to fall, which in turn causes sperm counts to drop. They're really intertwined. First, we know without a doubt that obesity causes testosterone rates to fall. And since 1970, the obesity rate in most developed countries has at least tripled.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: According to Dr. Levine, the research is also clear that other lifestyle choices like alcohol consumption as well as stress can play a role as well. And also the same behaviors that harm our health, and especially for men, young men tend to risk behavior. The same behaviors also harm sperm. And I mean ultra-processed food, diet, smoking, marijuana use, binge drinking, lack of physical activity, a lot of stress and poor sleep quality. All these factors harm health, harm reproduction, harm sperm.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: I think that all of us should think about it and find ways to live better because the health of young men nowadays around the world is really neglected. Now, let's talk about the role of chemicals. What do we know on that front?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, a lot of times when people start hearing talk about things like forever chemicals in food or microplastics in their water, it can sound a little out there. But in the last few years, we've seen a wave of studies with overwhelming evidence that these things are real and that they're clearly having a detrimental effect on human health, including fertility.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: For context, forever chemicals, or PFAs as they're often called, are used in basically everything these days, from clothing to food plastics and they even made their way into our water supply. Among other things the chemicals are helpful in repelling water and oil and can make certain foods easier to preserve.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But according to a growing body of evidence these chemicals are incredibly difficult for our bodies to break down. So they end up building up over time in the environment as well as in our bodies. The CDC has called them a public health concern because they've been proven to cause cancer, weight gain, and weakened immune systems. And scientists now say that they disrupt our endocrine system, which helps regulate hormones and directly impacts sperm count.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So first, we should start with the class of chemicals of phthalates. These are plastic additives that we use for many different consumer products in our cosmetics, in our shampoos, etc. And we know from studies in the U.S., in Israel, and other places that nowadays many or most of individuals, including pregnant mothers, are exposed to these different classes of chemicals.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But it's worth noting it's not just forever chemicals. There's also the danger posed by microplastics, which can be ingested by drinking out of plastic water bottles, as well as chemicals like BPA, which also have negative effects on human health. The list really does go on on that front.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And one of the most concerning elements here is that much of the problem actually begins before birth. We now know that much of a man's reproductive health and sperm production can be influenced in utero, especially during the first trimester when the testicles are starting to develop. And that means that when pregnant women are exposed to harmful chemicals, their children are impacted.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We know now that in utero, during fetal life, our health is largely determined for our entire life. The male reproductive system is very sensitive to environmental disruption or to other disruption. We know from animal studies that when you intentionally expose them to phthalates during critical period of development of the male reproductive system, it's disrupted.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So as individuals, what can we do to protect ourselves from some of these forever chemicals? Yeah, again, another important question there. And that is where there is some good news on the lifestyle front, especially. There are proven methods to increase testosterone rates and bring sperm counts back up.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The most obvious course of action is to increase your level of exercise and focus on a healthier diet high in protein and lower in sugar and alcohol. To that point, there was a recent study that really highlights the positive effect of weight loss on sperm count. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen tracked men with BMIs between 32 and 43, so about double the healthy range.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And they had them placed on strict calorie deficit diets. They found out that men who stuck with the diet lost on average 36 pounds and saw their sperm counts go up 41% in just a short period of time. And the men who kept the weight off for at least a year saw their levels remain steady, but those who put it back on had their counts drop back down to where they were before.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So it sounds like these levels are extremely responsive to lifestyle. Yeah, doctors point out that these rates can fluctuate pretty quickly. And beyond that, there are other things that can increase testosterone and have a positive impact as well. Getting direct sunlight, especially early in the morning, can help stimulate testosterone production as vitamin D is very important there.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So can working out taking vitamins and supplements quitting pornography. We know that porn addiction causes testosterone to drop and also cutting back on processed foods as much as possible. And there are also lifestyle choices people can make to avoid exposure to forever chemicals and microplastics.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: A good start is replacing your plastic Tupperware with glass, switching out your plastic water bottles for a metal or glass one, and looking into the chemicals used in your grooming products and household cleaners and investing in a good water filter at home to reduce the amount of chemicals you're consuming throughout the day. Those are all good starts.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, beyond personal choices, how can we get this stuff out of the water, out of the environment? Are there any policies being discussed right now?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, it's definitely worth noting that many scientists and others are calling for government action on this issue, especially as it pertains to dangerous chemicals. They say that in the same way we've made it illegal for companies to put poison in food for obvious reasons, We should make it illegal to include chemicals that we know for a fact disrupt human reproduction and cause a slew of other issues.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: To that point, here's Dr. Levine. And I understand that our listeners want to know what they need to do. And I would gladly say as a public health physician what I recommend. But it's not entirely within our own choice. It's everywhere. It's not only forever chemicals. It's everywhere chemicals. And the way to tackle this problem is by international, national regulation of chemicals. Otherwise, we are doomed to be exposed at one way or another because it's nowadays almost everywhere.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So I wouldn't only put it on the shoulders of the mothers, but on the shoulders of all of us as society to protect the public health.
--:-- Host: Now, is there any dissent or other opinions in the literature about this or is everyone in agreement? Well, you'd be hard-pressed to find a scientist who says the topic doesn't at the very least warrant more study and isn't, again, at least concerning. But there are those who question just how serious the issue is.
--:-- Host: Detractors say that they're not convinced sperm counts have actually dropped that much and question the validity of studies in the past, which they think could have overcounted sperm counts. They say the lack of a uniform testing method over the years could call into question the legitimacy of the latest review.
--:-- Host: Skeptics also say it's difficult to get a truly random sample for some of these studies as the men willing to take part are often those already experiencing fertility issues. Most endocrinologists and other experts on the topic, though, say they're confident in the efficacy of these studies and point out that this latest meta review, the big one we've been talking about, excluded any study comprised of men selected because they were already struggling with fertility and only evaluated those that used the same method for collecting and counting the sperm count.
--:-- Host: But it is worth noting that not every scientist is in agreement here. As with most things in science, there are always skeptics. Right. Well, considering this pertains to the continuation of the human race. Pretty important. Yes. Hopefully we get some answers.
--:-- Host: Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- Host: That was Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips. And this has been a Sunday edition of Morning Wire. From all of us here at Morning Wire, we hope you're enjoying the show.
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