Sperm quality declining worldwide: could easy-to-use Chinese balm solve the crisis?
In China, unhealthy lifestyles, pollution and work-related stress are cited in public health discussions around declining sperm quality
In an attempt to solve the global fertility crisis, Chinese scientists have developed a balm for testicles they say can boost sperm activity.
The lotion they developed for external application significantly enhanced sperm quality in both animal trials and in vitro studies, regardless of whether the decline in function was caused by exposure to heavy metals, plasticisers, heat stress or natural ageing, the researchers said.
The findings of the study, conducted by researchers from several domestic institutes – including the Institute of Reproduction and Development at Fudan University and the Third Military Medical University in Chongqing – were published online on November 27 in the peer-reviewed journal The Innovation.
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Declining sperm quality – characterised by reduced sperm count, abnormal morphology and diminished motility – is one of the main causes of male infertility.
However, there is a lack of effective solutions, particularly targeted biological agents, to reverse or substantially improve the condition.
It is estimated that around one in every six people of reproductive age worldwide experience infertility in their lifetime. According to the World Health Organization, infertility in men is most commonly caused by problems with the ejection of semen, an absence or low level of sperm, or low sperm motility – the ability of sperm to swim and fertilise an egg.
In China, which is mirroring global trends, the decline in sperm quality has become a significant public health issue due to factors that include unhealthy lifestyle, environmental pollution and work-related stress.
For example, data from a major sperm bank in Hunan province in central China indicated that the pass rate for donor sperm was 45.9 per cent in 2006, but had since fallen to around 20 per cent, which is in line with the national average.