According to a study, men who drink alcohol are less likely to have a baby through IVF.
The study in mice showed that the more a man drinks before donating sperm for IVF, the less likely the procedure is to work.
Male rodents who consumed the equivalent of 12 bottles of beer were up to 32 percent less likely to succeed than fasted animals.
Experts believe that alcohol reduces the quantity and viability of sperm, making it more difficult for the female egg to be fertilized.
In the mouse model, the scientists included a control group representing men who did not drink, a group representing men who normally drank at the legal limit, and a group representing men who normally drank one and a half times the drank the legal limit.
In vitro fertilization is an example of assisted reproductive technology, in which an egg is fertilized outside the woman’s body
Researchers from Texas A&M University cautioned that since they were obtained in mice, their results may not be fully extrapolable to humans.
But they said they were concerned that prospective parents would be considered.
Dr. Michael Golding, associate professor at the university’s School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, said: “We tell the woman, ‘You have to watch what you eat, you have to stop smoking, you have to do all those things.'” to improve.”
“We don’t tell the man that, and that’s a mistake, because what we’re seeing here is that addressing the health habits of both parents increases the couple’s chances of success with their IVF procedure.”
The Texas team’s findings come amid a booming fertility industry in the United States, thanks to a combination of several factors, such as a growing number of deceased parents, rising infertility rates and a wave of investment in clinics specializing in assisted reproductive technology ( ART). such as IVF.
Children conceived through IVF do NOT develop differently
Fertility experts have found that babies end up being no smaller than those conceived naturally, a finding that should give parents peace of mind.
In 2019, there were more than 330,000 ART cycles resulting in approximately 78,000 live births. This is more than about 263,000 cycles, which resulted in about 76,000 births in 2016.
Texas A&M researchers argued that this increased number of would-be parents entering the ART path requires a better understanding of how male health affects conception success, not just female health.
In vitro fertilization is perhaps the best known form of ART.
In IVF, an egg is combined with sperm outside the body in vitro or “in glass”. About two percent of babies in the U.S. are conceived each year with the help of assisted reproductive technology, and its use has more than doubled in the past decade.
The researchers used male and female mice in their experiment. They divided the male mice into three groups: a control group that did not consume ethanol, a group that consumed six percent ethanol daily, and another that consumed 10 percent ethanol daily for 10 weeks.
For human males weighing around 165 pounds, that six percent roughly equates to drinking two and a half beers per hour for four hours, bringing the total to nine, while the 10 percent treatment equates to is to a man of the same height who drinks twelve beers in four hours.
Researchers found that chronic alcohol consumption before sperm collection was associated with reduced IVF embryo survival and pregnancy success rates. And the success rate declined as alcohol consumption increased, with the pregnancy success rate of the 10 percent treatment group dropping to half that of the control group.
The study states: “Preconception paternal EtOH exposure significantly reduced both the number of offspring surviving each embryo transfer and the total number of two-cell embryos surviving to gestational day (GD)16.5, with the treatment group having 6 % EtOH showed a 24% reduction and the 10% EtOH group showed a 32% reduction in overall embryo survival compared to sperm from control treatment males.’
The team’s findings were published earlier this month in the journal Molecular Human Reproduction.
Alexis Roach, a Ph.D. Candidate conducts research in Dr. Golding said: “The most important aspect of this research is that it makes clear that everyone has a role to play when it comes to achieving successful pregnancy outcomes, even though it is commonly believed that it is only women.”
“The most important thing to take away from this is that as a man who wants to start a family, you should abstain from alcohol until your wife becomes pregnant.”
Golding’s is not the first published study to point out the adverse effects of alcohol use on a man’s ability to conceive.
A 2014 study of more than 1,200 Danish men found that those who drank excessively had a 33 percent reduction in sperm concentration compared to men who drank sparingly. Sperm quality also decreased with increasing alcohol consumption.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
