Men living near coal mines prone to infertility: Experts

HYDERABAD: Medical experts have observed that men living in the districts that have coal mines are facing more fertility problems than those living in other parts of the state. Referring to increasing infertility among men, Dr Krishna Chaitanya, chief embryologist at Oasis Fertility Centre, said that outpatient service in Warangal, Karimnagar and Bhadradri districts is mostly filled with men having zero or very low sperm count.

Speaking to Express, Dr Chaitanya said: “There is no demographic study conducted by any specialist or any concrete data available so far. However, when I visit our fertility centres in these coal mine areas once a month, I see a lot of male patients suffering from infertility.” Almost 70 percent of men who visit OPs have zero sperm count. Many have low numbers -- just a few thousands of sperm -- left, he said. “It might be because of changed lifestyle, pollution or the fertilisers they use,” Dr Chaitanya said.

The fertility centre on Saturday conducted a campaign titled ‘Infertility Knows No Gender’ to mark World IVF Day that is celebrated on July 25 every year.  The speakers at the campaign reiterated that infertility is as much as common in men as in women. They said that 30 percent of the infertility is due to a problem with the woman, 30 percent due to a problem with the man, 30 percent due to a problem in both and 10 percent due to unexplained infertility.

“According to research, the sperm count of a normal Indian adult has decreased from 60 million/ml 30 years ago to 20 million/ml now. Almost 40 percent of men in the reproductive age group are said to have a qualitative decline in sperm quality,” said Dr Durga G Rao, co-founder of Oasis.