A new study at Harvard School of Public Health suggests that sedentary lifestyle can have a negative impact on men's sperm quality, reports Medical Xpress.
Low amounts of physical activity or hours of TV viewing found among men can adversely affect the sperm quality, according to a recent study. The study involved men whose TV viewing and exercising habits were compared to analyze the results.
"We know very little about how lifestyle may impact semen quality and male fertility in general so identifying two potentially modifiable factors that appear to have such a big impact on sperm counts is truly exciting," said lead author Audrey Gaskins, a doctoral student at Harvard School of Public Health, reports Medical Xpress.
The research team at the Harvard School of Public Health conducted the study which included 189 men aged from 18 to 22 years old who took part in the Rochester Young Men's Study in 2009 at the University of Rochester. Researchers collected data which included the participants' physical activity and TV viewing habits. Other factors such as diet, stress levels and smoking habits that may affect their sperm quality were taken into consideration.
After analyzing the data of all the participants, men who spent more than 20 hours in TV viewing every week had 44 percent lower sperm count when compared with those who did not watch TV at all. Another report involving men who exercised for more than 15 hours per week at a low and high rate had a 73 percent higher sperm count when compared with men who exercised less than 5 hours per week, reports Medical Xpress.
"The majority of the previous studies on physical activity and semen quality had focused on professional marathon runners and cyclists, who reach physical activity levels that most people in the world cannot match. We were able to examine a range of physical activity that is more relevant to men in the general population," said Jorge Chavarro, senior author of the study and assistant professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health, according to the report.
The findings are published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
