Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Participants
- Declarations of personal interest
- Preface
- SECTION 1 BACKGROUND TO AGEING AND DEMOGRAPHICS
- SECTION 2 BASIC SCIENCE OF REPRODUCTIVE AGEING
- 7 Is ovarian ageing inexorable?
- 8 The science of ovarian ageing: how might knowledge be translated into practice?
- 9 Basic science: eggs and ovaries
- 10 Male reproductive ageing
- 11 The science of the ageing uterus and placenta
- 12 Basic science: sperm and placenta
- SECTION 3 PREGNANCY: THE AGEING MOTHER AND MEDICAL NEEDS
- SECTION 4 THE OUTCOMES: CHILDREN AND MOTHERS
- SECTION 5 FUTURE FERTILITY INSURANCE: SCREENING, CRYOPRESERVATION OR EGG DONORS?
- SECTION 6 SEX BEYOND AND AFTER FERTILITY
- SECTION 7 REPRODUCTIVE AGEING AND THE RCOG: AN INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE
- SECTION 8 FERTILITY TREATMENT: SCIENCE AND REALITY – THE NHS AND THE MARKET
- SECTION 9 THE FUTURE: DREAMS AND WAKING UP
- SECTION 10 CONSENSUS VIEWS
- Index
10 - Male reproductive ageing
from SECTION 2 - BASIC SCIENCE OF REPRODUCTIVE AGEING
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Participants
- Declarations of personal interest
- Preface
- SECTION 1 BACKGROUND TO AGEING AND DEMOGRAPHICS
- SECTION 2 BASIC SCIENCE OF REPRODUCTIVE AGEING
- 7 Is ovarian ageing inexorable?
- 8 The science of ovarian ageing: how might knowledge be translated into practice?
- 9 Basic science: eggs and ovaries
- 10 Male reproductive ageing
- 11 The science of the ageing uterus and placenta
- 12 Basic science: sperm and placenta
- SECTION 3 PREGNANCY: THE AGEING MOTHER AND MEDICAL NEEDS
- SECTION 4 THE OUTCOMES: CHILDREN AND MOTHERS
- SECTION 5 FUTURE FERTILITY INSURANCE: SCREENING, CRYOPRESERVATION OR EGG DONORS?
- SECTION 6 SEX BEYOND AND AFTER FERTILITY
- SECTION 7 REPRODUCTIVE AGEING AND THE RCOG: AN INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE
- SECTION 8 FERTILITY TREATMENT: SCIENCE AND REALITY – THE NHS AND THE MARKET
- SECTION 9 THE FUTURE: DREAMS AND WAKING UP
- SECTION 10 CONSENSUS VIEWS
- Index
Summary
Introduction
While the adverse effects of maternal age on reproduction are well documented and evident, reproductive effects related to advanced paternal age are less well defined. According to the Office for National Statistics, in 1971 the mean age of a father at birth was 27.2 years but by 1999 this had risen to 30.1 years and by 2004 it had risen to 32 years. In the UK in 2004, more than 75 000 babies, that is, more than one in ten of all born, were born to fathers aged 40 years or over and 6489 children were born to fathers aged 50 years or over. In recent years, male reproductive ageing has come into view, mainly in the lay press. However, few well-designed studies have been conducted on this subject and major textbooks on andrology only cover the endocrine aspects of male ageing but not its reproductive effects.
Studies referring to ‘testicular reserve’ in men focus on the endocrine function, that is, androgen production. With ageing, testicular androgen output declines. This condition has been named andropause, partial androgen deficiency in the ageing male and testosterone deficiency syndrome, among others, but it is now currently referred to as late-onset hypogonadism. Late-onset hypogonadism is defined as a clinical and biochemical syndrome associated with a deficiency in testosterone because of advanced age and is marked by a progressive development of osteoporosis, mood disorders and metabolic changes.
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- Reproductive Ageing , pp. 95 - 104Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009
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