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Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

nytimes.com

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Re: Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

#21

Post by prostoalex »

firasd wrote: post #17
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #11

Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14855796 As I said in that thread, this is another statistic that had a rapid and precipitous change starting in the early 1970s. I've stated this elsewhere, but it's like something(s) happened the late 60s/early 70s that totally transformed our world and I have no clue what they were nor can I find anyone who has written about it. Wealth inequality [1], Real Wage stag…

Well as for obesity rates (besides other factors) my understanding is that around the 70s governments decided that dietary fat and cholesterol was the primary cause of heart attacks and the side effect is that people significantly increased their carb intake. Edit: As for the wealth inequality thing, plenty of people have written about what changed in the 1970s onwards. Deregulation, free trade, workers' unions fadin…

True for the US, but other Western countries never bought this theory.

Re: Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

#22

Post by emersonrsantos »

algesten wrote: post #16
hyperdunc wrote: post #4

I've noticed over the last 20 or so years that men in the West, in general, appear increasingly effeminate. I've also noticed that a lot of male pop stars have really high voices. I've long suspected these observations are more than cultural. Recent studies seem to back this intuition.

In the 1700s castratis were quite popular throughout Europe. Does that mean they had low sperm count then, or was it just something people liked? I really don't believe you can explain cultural phenomenon through medical science.

Castrati means literally castrated, normally boys before puberty to retain the soprano/mezzo-soprano pitch on adulthood. This got forbidden in 1870 in Italy and by the Roman church in 1902.

Re: Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

#25

Post by imron »

hyperdunc wrote: post #4

I've noticed over the last 20 or so years that men in the West, in general, appear increasingly effeminate. I've also noticed that a lot of male pop stars have really high voices. I've long suspected these observations are more than cultural. Recent studies seem to back this intuition.

> I've also noticed that a lot of male pop stars have really high voices.

Male pop stars had really high voices long before 20 years ago - the BeeGees, the Beach Boys, Freddy Mercury are three off the top of my head. I'm sure I could come up with some more if I thought about it for more than 5 seconds.

Re: Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

#28

Post by brian-armstrong »

hyperdunc wrote: post #4

I've noticed over the last 20 or so years that men in the West, in general, appear increasingly effeminate. I've also noticed that a lot of male pop stars have really high voices. I've long suspected these observations are more than cultural. Recent studies seem to back this intuition.

Is this sort of pseudoscientific anecdata what passes for discourse on HN now? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - where's yours?

Re: Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

#29

Post by phamilton »

algesten wrote: post #16
hyperdunc wrote: post #4

I've noticed over the last 20 or so years that men in the West, in general, appear increasingly effeminate. I've also noticed that a lot of male pop stars have really high voices. I've long suspected these observations are more than cultural. Recent studies seem to back this intuition.

In the 1700s castratis were quite popular throughout Europe. Does that mean they had low sperm count then, or was it just something people liked? I really don't believe you can explain cultural phenomenon through medical science.

castratis have exceptionally low sperm count

Re: Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped Over 50 Percent Since 1973, Paper Finds

#30

Post by dv_dt »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #11

Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14855796 As I said in that thread, this is another statistic that had a rapid and precipitous change starting in the early 1970s. I've stated this elsewhere, but it's like something(s) happened the late 60s/early 70s that totally transformed our world and I have no clue what they were nor can I find anyone who has written about it. Wealth inequality [1], Real Wage stag…

One hypothesis, the rise of plastics really started to explode in to 40-50s and the first children to have grown up amidst that would have come of age starting in to 60s. Estrogen mimics are often emitted by plastics and can interfere with testosterone.

It would be interesting to see if there are any differential analysis that can be done with more remote populations of humans which maybe don't have exposure.

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