Experts warn that America’s plummeting birth rate may be linked to overprescribing of antidepressants.
Since their popularity in the 1980s, the class of mood-enhancing drugs has proliferated, with nearly one in five adults taking the drug by 2020, compared with about one in 50 at the beginning of this century. There is a record that
During this time, the birth rate in the United States has also fallen sharply, reaching a historic low in 2020. The country’s so-called baby bust has been attributed to a variety of factors, from changes in family values to women’s concentration on work and sitting. Lifestyle.
But doctors say the rapid spread of antidepressants may also be contributing to the phenomenon.
Dr. Helen Barney, director of male reproductive medicine at Indiana University, told DailyMail.com that while antidepressant side effects such as headaches and digestive problems are well known, there is another side effect that is rarely talked about. rice field.
The most common type of antidepressants, known as SSRIs, act on neurotransmitters in the brain, so they not only slow down the speed and shape of sperm, but also reduce interest in sex, making people less likely to have children. make it less likely.
As the U.S. birth rate steadily declines, more Americans are being prescribed SSRIs, the most common type of antidepressant.These drugs can reduce sperm quality in men
New data from nonprofit March of Dimes shows U.S. fertility rates are slowly declining
Dr. Barney said these drugs can “severely impair a man’s sperm quality,” which directly affects a man’s ability to conceive.
This includes concentration, sperm migration speed, shape, etc.
2022 meta-analysis published in the journal Pharmacology frontier The researchers wrote that they found that SSRIs produced “statistically significant impairments in semen quality, including sperm concentration, sperm morphology, and sperm motility.” However, there was no effect on semen volume.
This may contribute to the country’s overall fertility rate, which has been steadily declining for decades.
According to the United Nations World Population Prospects, in 2020, an average of 1.7 children will be born to women in the United States. In 1970, the proportion was 2.3.
The global fertility rate (the average number of children born per woman) has increased from 4.7 in 1970 to 2.3 in 2020. That’s a staggering 51 percent drop.
The aging of women and declining fertility rates in the United States has resulted in women leaving work late in life to have children to pursue careers, changing family values, and in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments. is thought to be due to the progress of
Other lifestyle factors that can reduce libido are also on the rise, including obesity, high blood pressure, an unbalanced diet and a sedentary lifestyle.
However, some doctors believe that antidepressants may be closely related to this phenomenon.
Helen L. Burney, Ph.D., director of male sexual and reproductive health at Indiana University, said SSRIs can reduce sperm quality after as little as three months of use.
Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most commonly prescribed type of antidepressant, with up to 70 percent Among all antidepressant prescriptions.
They work by increasing levels of serotonin in the brain, a neurotransmitter that carries signals between nerve cells throughout the body.
Serotonin regulates several important functions including mood, sleep, digestion, memory and learning.
SSRIs block the reuptake of serotonin into neurons or brain cells. This makes more serotonin available in the brain, which can reduce mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.
These drugs do not affect sperm quantity, but they can reduce sperm quality.
‘[SSRIs impact] It affects not only sperm concentration and sperm count, but also sperm motility, which is how fast they swim,” said Dr Barney.
SSRIs also inhibit sperm morphology, the shape a sperm needs to enter an egg, and the DNA fragmentation index, a measure of sperm DNA abnormalities. “They certainly have a significant impact,” Dr. Barney said.
2020 survey in International Journal of UrologyFor example, men who took SSRIs had only 61 million sperm counts, while men who didn’t take SSRIs had 184 million sperm counts.
The average American woman under the age of 45 has 1.1 children, compared to 0.8 children for the average man, according to a report by the National Center for Health Statistics.
In 2019, the number of American women with at least one child dropped to just 52.1%, while the number of men dropped to 39.7%.
Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and California see their lowest birth rates since 2005
Dr. Barney said it takes about three months for antidepressant treatment to take effect, depending on the life cycle of the sperm.
“Men make sperm every day, and millions of them every day, but it takes about 70 to 90 days to go from baby sperm to mature sperm capable of fertilizing an egg,” she said.
This means that you will likely not notice any difference until this period.
Assuming someone has normal reproductive health and no other lifestyle factors contributing to poor sperm quality, this decline does not tend to worsen after the first three months.
Some studies suggest that the SSRI fluoxetine may have more adverse effects than similar agents.one studyFor example, fluoxetine found higher levels of “spermicidal activity” than sertraline, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, and citalopram.
“They can all have an impact.” [sperm quality]But fluoxetine probably has the highest spermicidal activity that causes abnormal spermatogenesis,” Dr. Barney said.
Quitting SSRIs can reverse these negative effects, but can be dangerous for people who need medication to deal with mental health conditions. This is especially true for patients who are having trouble conceiving or are worried about their low fertility.
“If they can get off the meds for a little while, that’s great. If they can’t, make other lifestyle, behavior and dietary modifications we can,” Dr. Barney said.
2022 review It turns out that human sperm counts have declined by more than 50 percent worldwide over the past 50 years.
Graphs show: Global rate of decline in sperm concentration from samples collected from 1972 to 2000 (orange) and after 2000 (red).
The exact cause of this effect is still unknown, but Dr. Barney said it could be a “sperm transport problem.”
SSRIs inhibit the transfer of adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. This compound provides energy for many living cell processes, including sperm.
When ATP is reduced, sperm are less likely to survive long enough to fertilize an egg.
of Food and Drug Administration has approved several SSRIs for the treatment of depression, including citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil or Pegceva), and sertraline (Zoloft).
However, side effects include decreased interest in sex, erectile dysfunction, and decreased or delayed orgasm. All of these can contribute to declining fertility rates.
In 2016, it was estimated that 1 in 6 The American was taking psychiatric drugs, including SSRIs.
Experts believe that number has increased in recent years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.A study published last year in a journal psychiatric research found that antidepressant use increased by 20 percent in each month of 2020 compared to figures from 2015 to 2019.
Data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that antidepressant use increased nearly 2.5-fold between 2000 and 2020 in 18 European countries.
Iceland had the highest rate of SSRI use in Europe in 2020, with 153 per 1,000 people, or 15% of the population.
Americans are already having fewer children than ever before.
report from National Center for Health Statistics The CDC’s affiliate, NCHS, reported 3.7 million US births in 2019, a slight drop from the previous year.
Researchers found that 52.1 percent of women have at least one child.
This is down from 54.9 percent in 2015, the most recent edition of the survey, and down significantly from nearly 60 percent of female parents under the age of 45 in 2002.
The average number of children for American women under 45 is 1.1, down from 1.3 in 2002.
Men’s decline was even more severe. In 2002, just under 47 percent reported being a parent, but in 2019 that number dropped to below 40 percent.
Several lifestyle factors can ameliorate or reverse the damage done to sperm quality.
For example, one of the 2018 studies published in the journal. Reproductive biology and endocrinology Moderate and heavy cigarette smokers were found to have 22% worse sperm function than light or no smokers.
In addition, a study of 250 men whose sperm was analyzed found that men who ate more fruits, leafy green vegetables, and legumes had higher sperm concentrations and sperm counts than those who ate less of these foods. showed good motility.
A 2020 study found that young Danish men who ate a “Western-style” diet full of red meat, fried foods and sweet desserts had the lowest sperm counts. However, men who ate more fruits, vegetables, fish and chicken had healthier sperm levels.
“Birthrate is an indicator of overall health,” says Dr. Barney. “What we can do to improve these levels is something we can do at any age and at any point in our lives.”
