Male infertility could be impacted by a noisy environment
Infertility in men could be linked to long-term exposure to a noisy environment, especially during the nighttime, found a new study. Researchers found that the level of noise and environmental condition might contribute to infertility. So, sleeping next to a noisy street could present a higher risk than a slight annoyance.
Researchers from Seoul National Univesity found that exposure above the WHO night noise level (55 dB – equivalent to the noise of a suburban street) is linked to a significant increase in infertility.
Despite the annoyance that ensues with exposure to noise, researchers found that it can also be linked to different issues which vary from lack of concentration and bad sleep to health problems such as heart disease and can also interfere with your performance of complex tasks.
loading...
Previous research focused on fertility in women has shown a link between exposure to noise and birth-related problems, as premature birth, spontaneous abortion and congenital malformations.
The researchers analysed a health insurance dataset, focusing on 206,492 men aged 20-59. They calculated the levels of noise exposure using information from the National Noise Information System combined with the men’s postal codes. In the eight years covered by the study (2006-2013), 3,293 had an infertility diagnosis.
After adjusting the data for variables like age, income, BMI and smoking, they found the chances of being diagnosed infertile were significantly higher in men exposed to noise over 55 dB at night (about as noisy as a suburban street or an air conditioner).
The new study revealed that long-term exposure to what one might perceive a low level of noise, particularly at night, contributes to infertility in men.
“Infertility is becoming a significant public health issue because of unexpected adverse effects on the health and quality of life and heavy expenditures on the health system,” said Dr. Jin-Young Min, the study’s co-author. “We know noise exposure has an effect on male fertility in animals, but our study is the first to show the risk of exposure to environmental noise on male infertility in humans.”
Statistics show that infertility problems affect one in six couples at least once in their lifetime, worldwide. This may be down to a variety of causes, such as genetic abnormalities, infectious disease, environmental agents or certain behaviours.
Environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems the world faces today and this cold also present a high risk regarding male fertility.
loading...
Loading...