Chinese smokers twice as likely to have abnormal sperm, study says
- 32 per cent of 4,364 men studied found to have problems with their sperm, twice the proportion among non-smokers
Chinese men who smoke are twice as likely to have abnormal semen than those who do not, according to a recent study.
The claim is based on research by the China Sexology Association, China Andrology Association and Peking University Third Hospital, details of which were published on Thursday.
In the study of 4,364 men, carried out at 25 medical institutes across China, 32 per cent of those who smoked were found to have abnormal semen, while the figure was 16.6 per cent for those who did not.
According to the World Health Organisation, the term “abnormal semen” can be used to describe a lower than normal sperm count, poor sperm vitality, or a higher than normal number of irregularly shaped sperm.
The study’s compilers said 51 per cent of the participants were smokers, of whom 40 per cent smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day. About 60 per cent of the smokers had been doing so for at least five years, it said.
“Smoking has a negative impact on fertility, as the nicotine in cigarettes harms sperm, eggs and embryos,” said Jiang Hui, deputy director of the China Sexology Association, a non-profit organisation.
