Male fertility is weakening

Male fertility is weakening

Researcher blames chemicals, pollutants for disrupting hormones in animals and humans.

http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Male+fertility+is+weakening&expire=&urlID=26665976&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.detnews.com%2Fapps%2Fpbcs.dll%2Farticle%3FAID%3D%2F20080221%2FLIFESTYLE03%2F802210325%2F&partnerID=162731

Bill Scanlon / Scripps Howard News Service

Herbicides, other chemicals and pollution over half a century have weakened the reproductive capacity of males -- be they frogs, horses or humans, a Colorado State University researcher says.

Sperm counts are dropping about 1 percent a year, testicular cancer in young men has tripled in 50 years, and male frogs aren't developing the voice boxes they need to attract mates.

Exposure to chemicals in products from pesticides to nail polish "can do permanent damage," particularly if the male is exposed in the womb, as a newborn or as an adolescent, said Rao Veeramachaneni, a biomedical sciences professor at CSU's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

He points to the post-World War II boom in the use of chemicals and fertilizers as the beginning of the troubles for males in the Western world and across the planet.

Some of the chemicals can survive for 30-40 years, polluting rivers, lakes and groundwater, he noted.

When swallowed, the chemicals can attach to receptors in the body that help hormones do their jobs. The chemicals can block actual hormones from attaching, they can mimic real hormones -- causing confusion in the male body -- or they can block the production of natural hormones.

Chemicals known as phthalates, used in cosmetics, upholstery, drugs and other products, are found in human urine, blood and breast milk, especially in the developed world, Veeramachaneni said.

The use of DDT to help combat a resurgence of malaria in Africa has been associated with testicular cancer and infertility in wildlife there, he said.

Veeramachaneni and associate Carol Moeller used electron microscopic studies to show that when human sperm is exposed to seemingly innocuous chemicals it can become malformed or dysfunctional.

Noting that a third of the U.S. male population reports erectile dysfunction, Veeramachaneni is exploring a possible link with a fungicide commonly used in farming, vinclozolin.

In lab tests, he and researcher Jennifer Palmer found that some male offspring of animals exposed to the chemical during pregnancy displayed a complete lack of interest in females of the species.

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I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

This is not bad news.

Yay!

Now maybe if we can get those chemicals in the systems of guys who like to make babies, because "if you don't get 'er pregnant, you didn't have sex"

"It truly is the one commonality that every designation of humans you can think of has, there's at least one asshole."
--Me

Humans becoming infertile will be a Good Thing. However, other species becoming infertile is a disaster.

yupits good news.. nature meaning us as well has a way of balancing the books, but then again it will give more power to the ivf freaks,

*********************************************************************************************************************************
I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein