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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

#101

Post by Tharkun »

lisper wrote: post #86
will_brown wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As to (3) obesity, one of the most obvious contributing factors is the increased refined sugar consumption. People are poisoning their mind and bodies. And I know it's controversial and since everyone consumes sugar, everyone gets sensitive and defensive. However, in the 60's/70's nonalcoholic fatty liver disease did not exist in children nor did childhood type 2 diabeties, as to the former the first case in children…

I can give you an anecdotal counter-example: when I was a kid I ate tons of sugar. Ice cream. Twinkies. Hi-C. Foot Loops. You name it. If it had sugar in it, I ate it. I was never overweight, nor was I particularly athletic. If anyone should have suffered negative consequences from eating too much sugar, it was me. But nope, I was perfectly svelte and healthy. I graduated high school in 1982.

Recently the type of sugar has been the subject of controversy/research. IIRC, most sugar used to be actual sugar, but sweets and soft drinks often contain high fructose corn syrup these days. Apparentlt our body can deal with glucose reasonably well, but sucks at dealing with fructose.

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

#103

Post by Tharkun »

cameldrv wrote: post #88

I think it's pretty clear that Phthalates are a big piece of the puzzle. Here's the chain of evidence: I just picked one study for every link, but there are many for each. People have significant levels of Phthalates in their blood: http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/NewScience/oncompounds/phthal... People who have higher levels of Phthalates in their blood tend to have lower testosterone: http://www.medscape.com/viewart…

Have there been any studies on how to reduce phthalate levels in humans? Does limiting exposure help? Can the body expell the stuff?

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

#104

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

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

#106

Post by JoshMnem »

will_brown wrote: post #38
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…

As to (3) obesity, one of the most obvious contributing factors is the increased refined sugar consumption. People are poisoning their mind and bodies. And I know it's controversial and since everyone consumes sugar, everyone gets sensitive and defensive. However, in the 60's/70's nonalcoholic fatty liver disease did not exist in children nor did childhood type 2 diabeties, as to the former the first case in children…

> now 10% of US children have the disease.

I don't think that number is correct. It appears to be more like 0.46 kids per 1,000, which is still high.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/03/diabet...

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

#107

Post by dredmorbius »

Tharkun wrote: post #101
lisper wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can give you an anecdotal counter-example: when I was a kid I ate tons of sugar. Ice cream. Twinkies. Hi-C. Foot Loops. You name it. If it had sugar in it, I ate it. I was never overweight, nor was I particularly athletic. If anyone should have suffered negative consequences from eating too much sugar, it was me. But nope, I was perfectly svelte and healthy. I graduated high school in 1982.

Recently the type of sugar has been the subject of controversy/research. IIRC, most sugar used to be actual sugar, but sweets and soft drinks often contain high fructose corn syrup these days. Apparentlt our body can deal with glucose reasonably well, but sucks at dealing with fructose.

"Table sugar" (sucrose) is a bonded glucose and fructose molecule.

HFCS is roughly the same ratio, though not bonded. The bond breakdown is pretty much instantaneous within the GI tract from my understanding.

This suggests little actual difference between sucrose and HFCS.... keep reading ...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucrose

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-fructose_corn_syrup

... though Robert Lustig who studies this now seems to be claiming that there are different metabolic effects for sucrose and HFCS:

Lustig also confirms what many consumers have intuitively figured out — that “sucrose (sugar) and HFCS have different metabolic effects,” including those that come from the much higher fructose content of HFCS which can range from 55 to 90 percent, and in the case of crystalline fructose to practically 100 percent. (Sucrose, or natural sugar, by contrast is a 50/50 combination of bound glucose and fructose).

http://foodidentitytheft.com/obesity-expert-dr-robert-lustig...

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

#108

Post by dredmorbius »

lsc wrote: post #47
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…

There is an argument that the problems people see with both 'real wage stagnation' and 'increased divorce rates' are really problems caused by measuring the wrong thing. The argument is quite clear when it comes to the divorce rate; Being alone, if financially tenable, is better than being in a bad relationship, so if you make being alone financially tenable for another half of the population, divorce rates will go u…

A twin-engine plane with two good engines, and the capability to fly on one alone, is safer than a single-engine plane.

A twin-engine plane with two fault-prone engines, where the failure of one can result in the failure of the other, and without the ability to fly on a single (or no) engines, is not safer than a single-engine plane.

Marriage in an environment of high employment risks, and where the marriage itself can contribute to personal risks (abuse, legal, financial, or others) may well not be an attractive, or stable, institution.

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

#109

Post by ge96 »

110011 wrote: post #80
RichardHeart wrote: post #2

Could this be from progress in pornography?

It's sad that perhaps the most plausible (of the discussed reasons so far in this thread) is being downvoted. I guess people believe what they want to believe. Anecdotally, I have felt (and sounded) a whole better ever since I stopped consuming porn. There is also a very real drive and stubbornness that I feel in myself, markedly higher than before. I would chalk (without evidence but as a hypothesis) decreased level…

I mean... If you stopped for a week would you have more? Or is it the same everyday haha.

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

#110

Post by DanBC »

Tharkun wrote: post #101
lisper wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can give you an anecdotal counter-example: when I was a kid I ate tons of sugar. Ice cream. Twinkies. Hi-C. Foot Loops. You name it. If it had sugar in it, I ate it. I was never overweight, nor was I particularly athletic. If anyone should have suffered negative consequences from eating too much sugar, it was me. But nope, I was perfectly svelte and healthy. I graduated high school in 1982.

Recently the type of sugar has been the subject of controversy/research. IIRC, most sugar used to be actual sugar, but sweets and soft drinks often contain high fructose corn syrup these days. Apparentlt our body can deal with glucose reasonably well, but sucks at dealing with fructose.

Sucrose is 50% glucose and 50% fructose.

HFCS is 42% fructose, 53% glucose and 5% other sugars/polysaccharides.

Is it the fructose?

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