Sperm show age. (Biology).Looks like women aren't the only ones who need to worry about their biological clock when it comes to having a baby. A new study indicates that the quality of men's sperm declines with age. Women's fertility decreases until menopause, when ovulation ovulation /ovu·la·tion/ (ov?u-la´shun) the discharge of a secondary oocyte from a graafian follicle.ov´ulatory o·vu·la·tion n. The discharge of an ovum from the ovary. ends. In contrast, men produce sperm throughout their lives. However, the sperm of an elderly man don't equal those of a young one, Brenda Eskenazi of University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. Commonly referred to as UC Berkeley, Berkeley and Cal and her colleagues report in the February Human Reproduction. The researchers studied sperm samples from 97 volunteers ranging in age from 22 to 80. None of the men had any known fertility problem. Semen semen or seminal fluid Whitish viscous fluid emitted from the male reproductive tract that contains sperm and liquids (seminal plasma) that help keep them viable. volume decreased with age, as did sperm motility Sperm motility describes the ability of sperm to move properly towards an egg. This can also be thought of as the 'quality' of the sperm, which is a factor in successful pregnancies, as opposed to the 'quantity'. , the researchers found. The tendency of sperm to move in a single direction, as opposed to randomly, also dropped as men aged. While female fertility abruptly ends at menopause, male fertility seems to gradually decline without a similar cut-off cut-off Anesthesiology The point at which elongation of the carbon chain of the 1-alkanol family of anesthetics results in a precipitous drop in the anesthetic potential of these agents–eg, at > 12 carbons in length, there is little anesthetic activity, , Eskenazi and her colleagues conclude. "The present findings have important implications for men who choose to delay fatherhood, since they reduce their chance of success the longer they delay," the scientists say.--J.T. |
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