The corona pandemic has an enormous impact on our well-being.
The psyche also suffers.
Stress can even affect semen quality in men, according to one study.
The question of whether a corona infection can negatively affect male fertility * is currently being discussed by various experts.
US researchers have now conducted a study into how the effects of the corona pandemic on the psyche affect the reproductive capacity of men.
Your result: Depending on how stressed men are, this can affect the quality of the semen.
Many women are familiar with the phenomenon: if they are extremely stressed, there is no menstrual period.
A physical reaction that is associated with increased cortisol levels.
The stress hormone cortisol supplies the body with energy on the one hand, but also puts it on alert.
In this state, non-vital processes such as reproduction only have low priority for our body.
So stress inhibits the ability of women to reproduce - but does that also apply to men?
US scientists from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found that corona-related stress negatively affects men's sperm quality.
Persistent fears and stress not only influenced the function of the seeds, but also the brain development of embryos, according to the
study published
on the specialist portal
Nature
.
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What couples who want to have children should consider now.
Reduce stress and thus reduce possible long-term effects on fertility
For their study, the scientists analyzed the sperm of mice and also examined college students.
In the mouse experiment it was found that sperm which had previously been artificially stressed with corticosterone differed in structure from “relaxed” semen.
The former showed changes in the so-called extracellular vesicles.
According to the Medical Tribune, these are tiny membrane-bound particles that transport lipids, proteins and RNA between cells and are involved in the maturation process of sperm.
These vesicles were smaller in stressed sperm and contained fewer proteins than those sperm from the relaxed control group
.
A study of college students also showed a change in semen quality in those men who had felt stressed over a long period of time.
If egg cells were fertilized with the "stressed" sperm from mice, the
brain development of the offspring was
different from that of the relaxed controls, according to the further results of the study.
In addition, as adults, they themselves reacted with an altered stress reaction, according to the Medical Tribune.
"Our study shows that the baby's brain develops differently in the womb if the father has experienced a chronic phase of stress before conception," co-author Tracey Bale from the University of Maryland in Baltimore is quoted from the scinexx portal: "We know but not yet what significance these differences have. ”Studies on humans are still pending.
But Bale says with regard to the coronavirus pandemic: "
There are many reasons why we should try to reduce our stress levels
- especially now, when we are more stressed than usual and will probably remain so for a few months".
“Dealing with stress sensibly can not only improve our mental health and reduce other stress-related ailments.
It also helps reduce potential long-term effects on the reproductive system that could affect future generations, ”she concluded.
(jg)
* merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network
.
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