Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought • Hacker News Board

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#731

Post by Klonoar » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:54 PM UTC

asdff wrote: post #695

Klonoar wrote: post #647

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, you have to look at the whole picture. Obesity is the big one to solve, but you have to kill the sugar issue if you want to do that. The average American (to say nothing of the rest of the world) is absolutely abysmal at keeping count of their sugar intake.

At the same time, the world health organisation estimates 95% of people are inactive. I think a lack of activity is the biggest cause of the obesity crisis. Especially these days where even older generations who weren't raised in this modern environment are often chronically online nonetheless. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/02/medic...

Sure, but what I think I'm ultimately trying to say is: that problem probably isn't getting solved anytime soon, given what we've turned the world into with technology.

We can control sugar in the food supply, though. It would do quite a bit if we'd just stop shoving it where it doesn't belong.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#732

Post by lm28469 » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:54 PM UTC

yamtaddle wrote: post #561

throw0101a wrote: post #531

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. Eating and drinking from plastics (This includes aluminum cans which are plastic lined) [a] So drinking containers should generally be ceramic, glass, or stainless steel?

I'd want to know that drinks aren't full of that stuff regardless of the end-user container material, before worrying about it. They're surely exposed to tons of plastics in the manufacturing process, including at times when various components are heated. Even water supplies in a house will typically have been in contact with plastics—at the treatment plant, in the house for any modern house (they're pretty much all…

> ever start with a hot tap for water you're gonna boil?

Depending on your system this might have no impact, my hot and cold water come from the same place and the hot water is heated 1m away from my sink by an electrical heater

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#733

Post by gabea » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:55 PM UTC

et-al wrote: post #543

ipdashc wrote: post #505

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I'm missing something. On the Results in study [b], they say > Semen parameters did not seem affected by caffeine intake, at least caffeine from coffee, tea and cocoa drinks, in most studies. Conversely, other contributions suggested a negative effect of cola-containing beverages and caffeine-containing soft drinks on semen volume, count and concentration. If tea and coffee don't cause an effect, but cola and…

Could be correlated to issue 1 with plastic containers. In the US, soda generally comes in aluminum cans or 2L plastic bottles, whereas coffee and tea aren't. Anyways, I still think sedentary lifestyles and stress play a larger role than plastics, but those are harder to isolate and control for researchers.

Aluminum soda cans are actually lined with plastic. So either way you are going to be consuming soda from plastic.

See this link -> https://interestingengineering.com/science/new-viral-video-r...

And this one about BPA which is quite cringeworthy from Coca-Cola -> https://www.coca-cola.ca/faqs/coca-cola-faqs-health/do-coca-...

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#734

Post by moffkalast » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:56 PM UTC

highwaylights wrote: post #333

itsoktocry wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the science seems to indicate it's much more likely that humanity will die off with a quiet whimper in a few generations. You didn't include a link to support the claim that humans only have "a few hundred years left at most". I think this is extremely unlikely to be true. What is your recommended reading?

This is purely speculation without a reference, I’ll edit to clarify. I did have this in the original post: “It's worth noting that this is not a mainstream view, and that the UN projects a level population out to 2300” I’ll clarify above regardless.

Well yeah it's not UN's policy to cause mass panics now, is it.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#735

Post by fredrikholm » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:57 PM UTC

35amxn35 wrote: post #715

UglyToad wrote: post #630

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah yes, that study of 99 (predominantly overweight) men from an infertility clinic that definitely shows soy affects sperm count. As far as I'm aware the evidence just isn't there with respect to soy and cherry picking the single study that shows some potential link is just helping fuel a dietary myth, would be my view.

Perhaps the correlation is the other way around. Men with less testosterone (and therefore a lower sperm count) consume more products with soy, which is common in a vegan diet. Not saying this is the case, just pointing out where this could be coming from.

Are you implying that having low testosterone increases the likelihood of you becoming vegan? I'm not following.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#736

Post by brushfoot » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:57 PM UTC

Teknoman117 wrote: post #633

Knufen wrote: post #478

I did my Master Degree in Organic Chemistry where we tried to develop a male contraceptive pill. I spend a lot of time studying sperm so here is a short list of thing to avoid regarding sperm quality (not ranked): 1. Eating and drinking from plastics (This includes aluminum cans which are plastic lined) [a] 2. Heating food in ANY type of plastic [a] 3. Caffein intake [b] 4. Sugar intake [c] 5. NOT exercising regularl…

9. You just can't win can you? Eat meat, increase risk of heart disease. Eat soy, decrease fertility. Life is weird to me. Humans have one of the longest lifespans among mammals, yet we seem to start breaking down not all that far into it. We don't tend to consider 35 "old", as we regularly live 80+ years, and even if you consider the "generally well functioning" span of your life to be your years up to 60 or so, 35…

The soy study is far from conclusive - it showed an inverse association between soy intake and sperm concentration, but mainly in "overweight and obese men," and "total sperm count, ejaculate volume, sperm motility, [and] sperm morphology" remained the same. NEJM Journal Watch stated the findings were inconclusive and recommended against suggesting dietary changes [0].

Either way, soy vs. meat is not the dichotomy it's sometimes presented as in political narratives. You can eliminate both and still have a huge number of healthy world foods to choose from. The Mediterranean I had recently was delicious and soy and meat free.

[0]: https://www.jwatch.org/jw200808070000002/2008/08/07/do-soy-f...

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#737

Post by lm28469 » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:58 PM UTC

Teknoman117 wrote: post #633

Knufen wrote: post #478

I did my Master Degree in Organic Chemistry where we tried to develop a male contraceptive pill. I spend a lot of time studying sperm so here is a short list of thing to avoid regarding sperm quality (not ranked): 1. Eating and drinking from plastics (This includes aluminum cans which are plastic lined) [a] 2. Heating food in ANY type of plastic [a] 3. Caffein intake [b] 4. Sugar intake [c] 5. NOT exercising regularl…

9. You just can't win can you? Eat meat, increase risk of heart disease. Eat soy, decrease fertility. Life is weird to me. Humans have one of the longest lifespans among mammals, yet we seem to start breaking down not all that far into it. We don't tend to consider 35 "old", as we regularly live 80+ years, and even if you consider the "generally well functioning" span of your life to be your years up to 60 or so, 35…

Half of the west eat and live as if they were attempting a slow suicide. Take care of your body and you'll be healthy well into your 60s, unless you're afflicted by outlier events but you can't do anything about these, maximise what you can, fate will do the rest

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#738

Post by Ancapistani » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 9:00 PM UTC

Aeolun wrote: post #440

droopyEyelids wrote: post #429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fertility isn't the only consideration with having children when you're old. Skin elasticity and athleticism decreases with age, and that translates into worse tearing, and more difficult births, longer recovery, and more trouble keeping up with a baby after all that. Then, on top of all that, your parents are entering their sunset years rather where you have to help them rather than having grandparents young enough…

Can you imagine having two generations of kids at 20 years old? ‘Grandma’ will be 40 when she has her first grandkid.

That sounds normal to me.

I was born when my mother was 17. I had my first daughter when I was 25 (and therefore her grandmother was 42). I’m 38 today.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#739

Post by vinay427 » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 9:00 PM UTC

miroljub wrote: post #281

devmor wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right, it's not true. It's more like a decade's salary. Full IVF generally ranges from $10-15k USD. Median worldwide income is about $900 USD.

It costs that much only in the USA, not everywhere. In many parts of the world, it's either way less expensive, or even covered by health insurance (at least a few tries).

It is similarly expensive in various other countries where it isn't always covered, and meanwhile is also covered in some states in the US.

https://resolve.org/learn/financial-resources-for-family-bui...

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#740

Post by berjin » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 9:00 PM UTC

simonsquiff wrote: post #697

kneebonian wrote: post #39

It is interesting, I have a friend group that consists of about 5 married couples all of whom have been having issues conceiving and have been trying for a while now, but are still having issues. Curiously enough my wife and I just had our 4th and every time we've conceived within two months (even when I was hoping it would take a little longer). From what I hear our friends story is not unusual and many in our age b…

One tip - get some ovulation sticks. My wife and I never realised but the egg is actually only around for a single day - it must be fertilised in those 24 hours. If you have sex after that there is zero chance of conceiving, sperm can hang around so you can conceive with sex a few days before. But outside that really small window you are wasting your time. The actual accurate window is massive guess work - some women…

The woman's libido should be really high when she is fertile and men can tell as well; She smells better, and mechanically the sex works better as there is there is more lubrication and it just feels much better.