Male infertility needs improved options for diagnosis and treatment, as well as wider investment in research, social awareness, and education, according to an international consortium...
Concern that male fertility may be declining globally led the Male Reproductive Health Initiative working group within the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) to commission an expert international panel, led by Professor Moira O'Bryan, from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
'Decreasing semen quality, increasing frequency of testicular cancer and congenital defects in the urogenital system indicate that, globally, male reproductive health has declined over recent decades. Research is needed to understand why, and how this trend can be reversed' said Professor O'Bryan.
She and 25 other experts from countries across Europe, plus the USA, Canada, China and Argentina, have published their findings in Nature Review Urology.
As well as declining fertility, the panel address how infertility in men is as common as in women, but the cause of infertility in male patients is often unknown, and usually goes uninvestigated as fertility treatments such as ICSI are used as a workaround. Because of this, very few targeted treatments for male infertility are available.
The panel also considered research suggesting that unexplained infertility could be a marker for other undiagnosed health conditions in men, such as cancer or metabolic diseases. However, without research into underlying mechanisms, opportunities to use this as an early warning sign are lost.
By Dr Francesca Gavins via Bio News, read more - https://www.progress.org.uk/global-action-needed-to-tackle-declining-male-fertility/
