Lifestyle, Environment, and Male Reproductive Health

The number of infertile men has been increasing in the past few decades, along with the prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle factors. Although environmental factors have been known to affect male fertility, there are also certain lifestyle-associated factors that might lead to declined male fertility. Factors such as obesity, smoking, psychological stress, alcohol consumption, substance abuse, scrotal hyperthermia, and cell phone usage have been postulated to have negative effects on male fecundity. Obesity and smoking, in particular, have been proven to have adverse effects on semen quality. Stress and substance abuse are backed by few large studies with controversial results. Scrotal hyperthermia and cell phone radiation have also shown damages to male fertility. This chapter discusses how dangerous these influences are to male reproductive health and explain the mechanisms that cause their effects.