2023-05-13 20:00:00
At present, and although to some extent it goes unnoticed, the infertility It is one of the problems that weigh the most in the developed world, both on psychological health and on the economic and social life of people of childbearing age.
In Europe alone, infertility affected 48 million couples in 2010, and Although male infertility is often overlooked by observers, researchers postulate that it is a contributing factor in the inability to have children about half of the times a couple is confronted with it.
In Europe alone, infertility affected 48 million couples in 2010.
However, in most cases, the reasons behind the causes of male infertility remain unclear. so, yesAccording to the authors of a new study under the title Testicular volume in 268 children and adolescents followed-up for childhood obesity—a retrospective cross-sectional study is published this week in the magazine European Journal of Endocrinology, Previous works had already reported the impossibility of making a reliable diagnosis in 70% of the 20,000 cases reported to a German fertility center.
In fact, a significant percentage of childless men have no explanation for their infertility. Among some of the factors involved,The research points to a trend in the decreased concentration and total number of sperm during the last forty years. Howeverparallel to this decrease in sperm quality, since 2010 the prevalence of childhood obesity has increased worldwide from 32 to 42 million people. Observers estimate that about 60% of today’s children will be obese by the age of 35; a factor that appears to be related to the male testicular hypotrophywhich currently affects a quarter of young men between the ages of 18 and 19, whose future fertility is therefore at risk. But how are childhood obesity and fertility in adulthood related?
About 60% of today’s children will be obese by the age of 35
Until very recently, the connection between obesity and metabolic disorders related to testicular growth in childhood had gone largely unnoticed. It is precisely for this reason that the endocrinologist’s team Rossella Cannarella performed a retrospective cross-sectional study in children and adolescents from 2 to 18 years of age in which they related the body mass index to other factors such as testicular volume, age and insulin resistance in 268 boys and adolescents.
Thus, they found that boys with normal weight had a testicular volume 1.5 times greater than those who were overweight or obese at peripubertal age. Also that study boys and adolescents with normal insulin levels had 1.5 to 2 times greater testicular volume compared to those with hyperinsulinemia, a condition often associated with type 2 diabetes in which patients have higher levels high insulin in the blood
So, those patients with overweight or obesity, hyperinsulinemia or insulin resistance showed lower testicular volume than their healthy peers. Since lower testicular volume predicts poorer sperm production in later life, the researchers believe that weight loss could help patients avoid infertility in the future.
Weight loss could help patients avoid infertility in the future
“Although the prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing worldwide, the impact of obesity and associated metabolic disorders on testicular growth is not well understood,” says Cannarella. “In this study, we found that being overweight or obese was associated with lower peripubertal testicular volume”.
“In addition, obesity-related comorbidities such as hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance have been found to influence testicular volume before and after puberty,” he continues. “Therefore, we speculate that more careful control of body weight in childhood could represent a prevention strategy to maintain testicular function later in life.”
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