You would be forgiven for worrying about the preservation of the human race if you have been looking at some of the headlines around the world. The latest headlines include ‘ Caffeine damages sperm DNA, study shows', ‘Heavy mobile use 'damages sperm'', ‘Male infertility 'is increasing' and ‘ Stem cell finding offers IVF hope'.
What is all this about?
All these findings are undoubtedly true (the studies of researchers and scientists say so) but I doubt if you or I will see any noticeable difference to the population or any real changes to our situation in our lifetime and maybe not even in the next fifty years. There are however problems that could surface and become a dilemma if we are not aware of the extenuating circumstances.
The pressures of modern day living and lifestyle changes do have an effect on our lives and the implications can have far reaching effects. The lower sperm count in men will upset the balance of nature. The numbers of donors at the sperm banks is decreasing, as have the egg donors which were never very high to start with because of the intrusive way the eggs are collected. There were changes made to the sperm donor rules with anonymity not being granted anymore after the 1 st April,2006 but it has come at a price. All ready donor numbers are dropping off with a 20% decrease so far and more can be expected. We are now facing a shortage of donors for this important research. Stem cell research is leaping ahead with many significant developments occurring. British scientists have taken a step towards showing that eggs and sperm can be created from stem cells. These findings will not help with the fertility troubles that are beginning to surface now.
Studies have always shown that the best time for a woman to conceive naturally is in her early twenties and it would seem that nature agrees with this observation. Society however has also made this the best ‘money making' years for people too. This is still a big dilemma for women who do want to raise a family and have a career. This is also the best time for a man to manufacture sperm that is effective and will have the potential to produce a child. These are more social issues rather than medical ones.
Balance is important here but with the speed of knowledge rapidly exceeding the sound knowledge base that we have grown from experience, there is a chance to commit a serious miscarriage of justice. How do we as a race and species know what will be the better outcome?
