Newswise — Pregnant people are bombarded with advice about how to keep their future children healthy. While parents worry about nutritional supplements and exercise, one aspect is less often discussed: how paternal reproductive health can be an indicator for the health of their children and, perhaps surprisingly, the rest of the family.
But overall health and sperm health are deeply linked in ways that can have consequences extending beyond one parent or parent-to-be. Someone’s health at the time of conception can affect their sperm, and those changes can be passed down to their children, for better or worse. And infertility can indicate a higher risk of other serious health problems, both for affected people and their relatives.
Jim Hotaling, MD, and Qi Chen, MD, PhD, are two scientists investigating connections between paternal reproductive health and overall wellness. What they’ve found may eventually lead to interventions that help parents-to-be stay healthy while giving their kids and families the best shot at a healthy life.
How health affects sperm
Most of what parents pass down to their children—at least, biologically—is passed down through DNA. DNA in the egg and sperm make up a biological blueprint that influences traits from eye color to cancer risk.
But eggs and sperm contain more than just DNA, Chen has discovered, and some of the other molecules they carry can also influence the health of the next generation.
Chen found that male mice that eat an unhealthy diet before conception increase their offspring’s risk of diabetes-like health conditions, even if their offspring eat healthy. A high-fat diet can change the composition of some of the other molecules in sperm, which appear to lead to increased health risks for the next generation.
New findings suggest the same is true in humans. Fathers who are overweight or have obesity tend to have similar small molecules in their sperm, and their kids have a higher risk of early-onset obesity.
Scientists have known for a long time that paternal health, including age and nutrition, can affect the health of future kids. But Chen is helping to discover why that happens—which could eventually lead to targeted treatments that improve reproductive health and children’s health alike.
“Sperm record information from the environment,” Chen says. “What are they carrying to the next generation?”
Sperm as an indicator of health
Other differences in sperm can be an early warning sign for a higher risk of other serious health conditions, as Hotaling has investigated. People with very low sperm counts are more likely to develop some kinds of cancer, including testicular and thyroid cancer. Their relatives are sometimes also at higher risk, suggesting that a shared cause contributes to sperm health and overall health in families.
“Infertile men are more likely to get cancer, and that extends to their families,” Hotaling says. “The big question is, what’s causing that?” He continues to investigate the genetic and environmental factors that likely underlie infertility and related cancer risks, many of which are still unknown.
Increasing individual and family health
These new findings about the link between sperm health and overall health suggest ways that people can improve both.
People with subfertility and their relatives may benefit from preventive screening to catch cancer early. Additionally, people with low fertility can lower their risk for some of the associated health issues by eating healthy, not smoking, and getting plenty of exercise and sleep. Improving overall health, Chen’s research suggests, may also improve the health of future children.
Further research will reveal more about how reproductive health and overall health are linked, hopefully leading to personalized treatments. But for now, making lifestyle changes to stay healthy is a safe bet to improve both.
“The health of a man’s sperm can provide a window into his own health,” Hotaling concludes, “and, potentially, that of his extended family members as well.”
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