Effects of smoking on male fertility: Lower sperm count recorded in men whose fathers smoked, study states
| Updated: Nov 26, 2018, 13:24 IST
Several studies have repeatedly linked maternal smoking with a lower sperm count in male children. However, this new study links paternal smoking during the time of pregnancy with a 50 per cent lower count of sperms than those with non-smoking fathers.
The findings of the study showed that independent of nicotine exposure from the mother, socioeconomic factors, and their own smoking, men with fathers who smoked had a 41 per cent lower sperm concentration. Also, a 51 per cent lower sperm count than those with non-smoking fathers was recorded in them. "I was very surprised that regardless of the mother's level of exposure to nicotine, the sperm count of men whose fathers smoked was so much lower," said Jonatan Axelsson, specialist physician at Lund University in Sweden. "We know there is a link between sperm count and chances of pregnancy, so that could affect the possibility for these men to have children in future. The father's smoking is also linked to a shorter reproductive lifespan in daughters, so the notion that everything depends on whether the mother smokes or not doesn't seem convincing," he added.
In addition to this, smoking also affects the DNA of children with fathers who smoke. They tend to have more breaks in the DNA strand. Children of fathers who smoke have been reported to also have up to four times as many mutations in a certain repetitive part of the DNA as children of non-smoking fathers. "We know that tobacco smoke contains many substances that cause mutations so one can imagine that, at the time of conception, the gametes have undergone mutations and thereby pass on genes that result in reduced sperm quality in the male offspring," Axelsson said.
The findings of the study showed that independent of nicotine exposure from the mother, socioeconomic factors, and their own smoking, men with fathers who smoked had a 41 per cent lower sperm concentration. Also, a 51 per cent lower sperm count than those with non-smoking fathers was recorded in them. "I was very surprised that regardless of the mother's level of exposure to nicotine, the sperm count of men whose fathers smoked was so much lower," said Jonatan Axelsson, specialist physician at Lund University in Sweden. "We know there is a link between sperm count and chances of pregnancy, so that could affect the possibility for these men to have children in future. The father's smoking is also linked to a shorter reproductive lifespan in daughters, so the notion that everything depends on whether the mother smokes or not doesn't seem convincing," he added.
In addition to this, smoking also affects the DNA of children with fathers who smoke. They tend to have more breaks in the DNA strand. Children of fathers who smoke have been reported to also have up to four times as many mutations in a certain repetitive part of the DNA as children of non-smoking fathers. "We know that tobacco smoke contains many substances that cause mutations so one can imagine that, at the time of conception, the gametes have undergone mutations and thereby pass on genes that result in reduced sperm quality in the male offspring," Axelsson said.