This might come as bad news for some alcoholics, but
a study shows that drinking just five units of alcohol
every week could reduce the quality of a man’s sperm
and the more alcohol consumed, the weaker the
quality of the sperm, the study found.
Men of a reproductive age should be advised to steer
clear of habitual drinking, the authors said.
The study, published in the journal BMJ Open,
examined 1200 Danish male military recruits between
the ages of 18 and 28, all of whom underwent a
medical examination between 2008 and 2012.
As part of the assessment they were asked about their
drinking habits and invited to provide sperm and blood
samples.
The average number of units drunk in the preceding
week was 11.
The researchers found drinking alcohol in the previous
week was linked to changes in reproductive hormone
levels, with the effects increasingly noticeable the more
alcohol was consumed.
Testosterone levels rose while s*x hormone binding
globulin (SHBG) fell, they found.
Almost half said the quantity of alcohol drunk in the
preceding week was typical of their normal weekly
consumption.
Among this group of men, researchers found that the
higher the tally of weekly alcohol units, the lower was
the sperm quality in terms of sperm count and the
proportion of sperm that were of normal size and
shape.
The effects were evident in those who drank five or
more units a week and most apparent in those who
drank 25 units or more.
Those who typically drank 40 units a week had 33 per
cent lower sperm count and also had less “normal
looking” sperm than men who drank between one and
five units a week.
“Our study suggests that even modest habitual alcohol
consumption of more than 5 units per week had
adverse effects on semen quality although most
pronounced associations were seen in men who
consumed more than 25 units per week,” the authors
wrote.
