I don’t believe the findings in a new study on a man’s fertility

Drinking, smoking and using recreational drugs probably will not reduce a man’s fertility, a new study reported in the New York Times suggests — but working on a road crew might.

British researchers studied 2,249 men who visited fertility clinics after a year of trying unsuccessfully to impregnate a partner. The men completed detailed health and behavioral questionnaires and each provided a semen sample for analysis. some factors assiciated with poor results on a semen analysis were: nonwhite race, testicular surgery, older age, a mumps infection after age 13 and a two-week fever within the last three months.

Among modifiable behaviors, manual work and wearing jockey shorts were also associated with abnormal semen. But high body mass index, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and use of recreational drugs had no relationship to semen quality, the researchers reported. But this is not compatible with our observations or with many previous studies.

Our advice is still to avoid alcohol, excessive weight, smoking, caffeine and recreational drugs. For more information on lifestyle changes a man can institute to improve his sperm see our Lifestyle & Fertility pages.

The study was posted online last week in the journal Human Reproduction.

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