Monday, August 08, 2011

Changes in Environment Changing Human Reproduction

Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences
National Center of Excellence in Women's Health

Shaping Our Legacy:
Reproductive Health
and the Environment


A report on the Summit on
Environmental Challenges to
Reproductive Health and Fertility

Convened by the University of California,
San Francisco and the Collaborative on
Health and the Environment

A Report by:
Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences
National Center of Excellence in Women's Health
University of California, San Francisco

Excerpt:

We have made great strides in some aspects of our of health, such as increased life expectancy and better cancer treatments, but in other areas we are losing ground. When it comes to our reproductive health, we are only about half as well off as our grandparents were. Sperm counts have decreased by 50 percent during the past 50 years in several industrialized regions. More women, particularly those under the age of 25, are reporting difficulty conceiving and maintaining their pregnancies. Compared with 30 years ago, 26 percent more women get breast cancer, 46 percent more men get testicular cancer and 76 percent more men get prostate cancer. Thirty percent more babies are born premature, and, on average, babies are born one week earlier now than they were 15 years ago. The second and third most common birth defects today are malformations of male reproductive organs. For the most part, we do not know exactly why this is happening. But we do have substantial clues that suggest something in our environment is involved.
If you are interested in more information, please click here to download the report, Shaping our Legacy. (Adobe Reader required).  Shaping Our Legacy is also available in Spanish..

2 comments:

la fille said...

You know, I never even considered this possibility before, but its obvious that this is one thing that environmental factors would absolutely have an affect on. I think we as humans tend to feel bubbled into our artificial environment and forget that we're in fact part of something larger and more natural than we seem.

I am so happy I stumbled across your blog, you've posted some wonderful things here. I'm looking forward to reading more! Thank you!

Jevelme Frago said...

I agree, because of the new technology,sometimes we don't think the possibilities about the environmental factors that contributed a big part of our health especially in our lives as well.

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