Word: skakkebaek
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1996-1996
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...until 1992 scientists didn't know of any convincing evidence that men were experiencing reproductive problems on a large scale. Then came the groundbreaking report by a Danish endocrinologist, Dr. Niels Skakkebaek of the National University Hospital in Copenhagen. Skakkebaek and his colleagues did what is called a meta-analysis: they combined the results of 61 separate studies of sperm count and quality over the past 50 years in men around the world, and found that the average sperm count had fallen from about 113 million per ml in 1938 to 66 million...
...After Skakkebaek's paper appeared, says Myers, "it immediately became apparent that nature is sending a very strong signal that something is amiss." Just as theoretical chemistry in the 1970s presaged the discovery of the ozone hole a decade later, he argues, "laboratory work on environmental toxins presaged the discovery of the decline in sperm count...
...everyone accepts the link between environmental estrogens and reproductive ills. The relationship, argues Stephen Safe, a professor of toxicology at Texas A&M University, remains "debatable and unproved." Even the idea that sperm counts are dropping worldwide is open to challenge. Some researchers have questioned Skakkebaek's methodology; they generally agree with his finding that there is a decline in Denmark but consider any broader interpretation more speculative. Several other researchers have shown that sperm counts in Finland, at least, have remained normal; a study of men in Toulouse, France, shows the same result. So, according to published reports, will...
...both sides of the debate, is step up the pace of research. If sperm counts are dropping, even in only part of the world, it would be prudent to figure out why. And if they turn out to be declining everywhere, better to know sooner than later. Extrapolating from Skakkebaek's admittedly controversial data, it's conceivable that the average man will be infertile within a century. Even if things are only half that dire, it would be bad news indeed for the human race...
| 1 |