Children Of Smokers Risk Low Sperm Counts

Scientists in Sweden said men whose fathers smoked at the time of pregnancy had 50 per cent lower count of sperms than those with non-smoking fathers. 

The findings of a new study published in the journal ‘PLOS ONE,’ showed that, independently of nicotine exposure from the mother, socioeconomic factors, and their own smoking, men with fathers who smoked had a 41 per cent lower sperm concentration and 51 per cent fewer sperm count than those with nonsmoking fathers. The study was conducted on 104 Swedish men aged between 17 and 20 years.

A semen analysis usually evaluates certain characteristics of a male’s semen and the sperm contained therein and it is done to help evaluate male fertility, whether for those seeking pregnancy or verifying the success of vasectomy. 

Normal sperm densities range from 15 million to greater than 200 million sperm per milliliter of semen. One is considered to have a low sperm count if he has fewer than 15 million sperm per milliliter or less than 39 million sperm total per ejaculate. 

A Specialist Physician at Lund University in Sweden Jonatan Axelsson said, “I was very surprised that regardless of the mother’s level of exposure to nicotine, the sperm count of men whose fathers smoked was so much lower. “We know there is a link between sperm count and chances of pregnancy, so that could affect the possibility for these men to have children in future.

Categories: Mother And Child