Influence of climate on semen quality: A retrospective study

Abstract

Introduction: World over studies are being done by different group of workers to understand the time of deliveries conducted. Surprisingly majority of deliveries were following a pattern, seasonally. Today in this busy world, couples choose comparatively a free time for delivery and preparation for conception is done accordingly. Apart from these, it is clearly shown majority of deliveries are conducted during a particular season. We hypothesised that the change in semen quality during different seasons is responsible for this phenomenon. Materials and methods: Present study conducted on semen quality included 12,408 semen samples collected from different laboratories of Bangalore city during 8 years (2000–2007) period of time and were analysed season wise. Results: Results showed sperm concentration was significantly lower in monsoon than in winter season. Humidity and pressure influenced sperm count. Forward moving sperms were influenced by temperature and pressure. Summary: The study concludes the change in birth rates seen during different season in a year is due to the quality of semen responsible for conception.