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Subscribe To Our Syndicated NewsAntidepressant May Damage Men's Sperm
-September 25, 2008
A study conducted at the Cornell Medical Center has found that paroxetine, a widely prescribed antidepressant, increases the incidence of DNA damage in men's sperm.
Paroxetine, marketed under the brand names Paxil and Seroxat, is one of the leading antidepressants sold in the U.S. and England. In fact, nearly 2.5 million Paxil prescriptions were filled in the U.S. in 2007.
Details and Results of the Study
This study, the second of its kind to be performed at the Cornell Medical Center, analyzed the sperm results of 35 healthy men both before they took paroxetine and again one month after they had been taking this antidepressant.
Because nearly all men display some level of DNA damage in their sperm, nearly 14 percent of the sperm cells in the "before" samples contained DNA damage.One month later, levels of damaged sperm cells had over doubled, as the "after" samples contained over 30 percent damaged sperm cells.
The central concern generated from the increase in sperm damage after taking paroxetine is whether or not fertility problems will result if only about 70 percent of men's sperm is healthy.
Currently, the medical community accepts that higher levels of sperm damage may decrease the chances that a man's sperm will fertilize an egg and will make it less likely that fertilized eggs will succeed in the womb.
The Need for Future Studies
While it's evident that use of paroxetine does, in fact, negatively affect healthy sperm, further studies in this vein will need to investigate the sperm levels at which fertility is affected. Members of the medical community hold a variety of different views about when exactly sperm damage is significant enough to impair fertility.
As a result, researchers are urging patients to continue using their antidepressants even if they are trying to conceive. Changing to a different type of antidepressant medication or pursuing in vitro fertilization may be options for those concerned about impaired fertility.
(Source: BBC Health News)
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