Front page headlines in a esteemed daily news paper of India : “No fertile men in 50 years as sperm counts slide?”

This has been reported by Times of India recently.  The main reasons cited are growing levels of stress, obesity or pollutants in the air.  And it further adds that the sperm counts of are falling and causing mega concern across the globe and one estimate holds that it has fallen by as much as 50% in the last 50 years.

It has quoted further that “Dr P M Bhargava, who worked out the Indian guidelines for assisted reproductive techniques (which are soon expected to become the law), said the trend of falling sperm counts was noticed in the mid-90s in the West. "Some doctors in India believe that sperm counts are falling locally too," he said, adding that the western studies show that counts have been falling by 2% every year. "At this rate, there would be no fertile men left in the next 40-50 years," added the Hyderabad-based Bhargava, who is counted among India's foremost scientists.”

But such adverse news may create alarms among many.  Are these well established?  Are the results arrived at are well tested statistically? 

        

It is also stated that “A couple of years back, a study from Scotland of 7,500 men who attended the Aberdeen Fertility Centre between 1989 and 2002 showed that average sperm concentrations fell by nearly 30%. Another study from Copenhagen found a newer reason apart from alcohol abuse, smoking and obesity for this decline -endocrine disrupters. "Many everyday substances such as plastic buckets (or milk bottles) emit chemicals that are similar to estrogen, the female hormone,'' said Bhargava. It is exposure to the female hormone-like chemicals that could be reducing the sperm count in men, believe a school of scientists. Commonly used pesticides such as DDT and dioxins have been named as culprits.

Many disagree. Infertility specialist Dr Aniruddha Malpani said endocrine disrupters are just one of the unproven theories floating around to explain falling sperm counts. "It is the most famous theory, but it hasn't been proven yet,'' he said. Rising infertility is a problem for both men and women due to late marriages and delayed child-bearing, he added.”

Answer to the above questions is simply “No”.  No well thought statistically sound sample study has ever been undertaken in India in order to arrive at the alarming conclusion mentioned in the headlines of the very important daily in India.