“Our previous research study, published in March, showed that men who eat large amounts of meat and full fat dairy products have lower seminal quality than those who eat more fruit, vegetables and reduced fat dairy products. In this study, we have found that people who consume more fruits and vegetables are ingesting more antioxidants, and this is the important point”, Jaime Mendiola, lead author of the article and a researcher at the University of Murcia, tells SINC.

The experts have spent the past four years analysing the link between dietary habits or workplace exposure to contaminants and the quality of semen among men attending fertility clinics.

The objective was to find out whether a higher or lower intake of vitamins, which act as antioxidants, could affect semen quality. These molecules, which are present in foods such as citrus fruits, peppers and spinach, work by lowering the level of oxidative stress that can affect semen quality, and improve sperm concentration parameters as well as sperm mobility and morphology.

The study was carried out among 61 men, 30 of whom had reproductive problems, while the remaining 31 acted as controls. “We saw that, among the couples with fertility problems coming to the clinic, the men with good semen quality ate more vegetables and fruit (more vitamins, folic acid and fibre and less proteins and fats) than those men with low seminal quality”, explains Mendiola.

“A healthy diet is not only a good way of avoiding illness, but could also have an impact on improving seminal quality. What we still do not understand is the difference between taking these vitamins naturally and in the form of supplements. In the studies we are going to carry out in the United States (where the consumption of vitamins in tablet form is very common) we will be looking at the role of supplements”, the Spanish scientist continues.

Spanish fertility, a worrying analysis

More and more scientific studies show that human seminal quality and male fertility have declined over recent decades. The results of the European study Differences in seminal quality and reproductive results, carried out between 2000 and 2008 by the Valencian Infertility Institute show that Spanish semen is at the bottom of the league table in terms of volume (9th position), mobility (10th position) and concentration.

However, after analysing the quality of sperm, the research team evaluated its functioning, in other words its capacity to successfully lead to pregnancy. In this analysis, the Spanish sperm came second, only behind Portugal. “The quality among Spanish men is around the European average. We shouldn’t worry ourselves, although we must monitor the situation”, points out Mendiola.

In the countries of northern Europe, such as Denmark, 40% of young men have seminal quality that is below recommended levels for fertility. “The Danish experts are studying the issue, because it is very worrying. Lifestyle habits could be closely related to seminal quality and human fertility parameters. In addition, emphasis has been placed in recent years on the significance of babies being exposed to toxins and pollutants (pesticides, xenoestrogens, etc.) while in the womb, which could also compromise their future reproductive capacity when they grow to be adults”.

References: Jaime Mendiola, Alberto M. Torres-Cantero, Jesús Vioque, José M. Moreno-Grau, Jorge Ten, Manuela Roca, Stella Moreno-Grau, y Rafael Bernabeu. “A low intake of antioxidant nutrients is associated with poor semen quality in patients attending fertility clinics”. Fertility and Sterility 2009, publicado on line, mayo de 2009.

Source: SINC, FECYT – Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology

Classic autism strikes boys four times more often than girls. When including the entire spectrum of autism disorders, such as the milder Asperger syndrome, boys are diagnosed 10 times more often than girls.

“This is a strong finding,” said Dr. Stanley Nelson, professor of human genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “No one has scrutinized the role that CACNA1G plays in autism.

“We found that a common form of the gene occurs more frequently in the DNA of families that have two or more sons affected by autism, but no affected daughters,” he explained. “Our study may explain why boys are more susceptible to the disorder than girls.”

Nelson and his colleagues zeroed in on a region of Chromosome 17 that previous studies have tied to autism. The research team scoured the DNA of 1,046 members of families with at least two sons affected by autism for common gene variants.

A variant is a gene that has undergone subtle changes from the normal DNA yet is shared by a significant portion of the population.

The researchers used tools of the Human Genome Project to scan thousands of variants across all genes in the suspicious region of the chromosome and to pluck out the most common forms.

“We wanted to identify what was happening in this region of Chromosome 17 that boosts autism risk,” said Nelson. “When the same genetic markers kept cropping up in a single region of the DNA, we knew we had uncovered a big clue.”

The researchers traced the genetic markers to CACNA1G, which helps move calcium between the cells. They discovered that the gene has a common variant that appears in the DNA of nearly 40 percent of the population.

“This alternate form of CACNA1G consistently increased the correlation to autism spectrum disorder, suggesting that inheriting the gene may heighten a child’s risk of developing autism,” observed Nelson.

How the gene contributes to higher autism risk remains unclear, but Nelson emphasized that it cannot be considered a risk factor on its own.

“This variant is a single piece of the puzzle,” he said. “We need a larger sample size to identify all of the genes involved in autism and to solve the whole puzzle of this disease.”

The UCLA team’s next step will be to sequence the gene in people who possess the altered variant in order to identify the exact change that increases autism risk. These subtle variations offer potential markers for the real mutation causing greater susceptibility to the disease.

Nelson’s coauthors included Samuel Strom, Jennifer Stone, John ten Bosch, Barry Merriman, Rita Cantor and Daniel Geschwind, all of UCLA. The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and Cure Autism Now, which has since merged with Autism Speaks.

The DNA samples and clinical data were provided by families who donated blood to the Los Angeles-based Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE), a program created and funded by Cure Autism Now.

“When parents like me first formed AGRE, this was our dream, that talented scientists would use our gene bank to collaborate and bring us closer to understanding autism,” said Jon Shestack, co-founder of Cure Autism Now and a board member of Autism Speaks. “AGRE has played an important role in almost every major autism genetics paper in the past five years.”

Autism is a complex brain disorder that strikes in early childhood. The condition disrupts a child’s ability to communicate and develop social relationships and is often accompanied by acute behavioral challenges. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that one in 150 American children is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. The diagnosis of autism has expanded tenfold in the last decade.

Source:
Elaine Schmidt, University of California – Los Angeles

Mind week 9 – 16 May 2009

• 37% of men are feeling worried or low.
• Middle aged men are 7 times more likely than women to have suicidal thoughts.
• Only 23% of men would see their GP if they felt low for over a fortnight.
• Men were only half as likely to talk to friends about problems as women.

Leading mental health charity Mind today (Monday 11 May) publishes the shocking new report Men and mental health: Get it off your chest presenting evidence that the recession is having an adverse affect on men’s mental health (1). Mind’s You Gov survey found almost 40% of men are worried or low at the moment and the top 3 issues playing on their minds are job security, work and money. A small number of men were even experiencing suicidal thoughts – of these, middle-aged men were much more likely than women to have suicidal thoughts. Middle-aged men currently have the highest suicide rate in England and Wales (2).

Mind’s Get it off your chest campaign aims to get men to recognise the importance of talking about their problems and is calling for a strategy on men’s mental health, to match the existing women’s mental health strategy. Supporters with personal experience include Lord Melvyn Bragg, Alastair Campbell, Stephen Fry, actor Joe McGann and Heart FM DJ Matt Wilkinson.

Mind’s new YouGov survey of over 2000 men and women found that:

• 31% of men would feel embarrassed about seeking help for mental distress
• Just 14% of men (35-44yrs) would see a GP if they felt low compared to 37% of women
• 4% of young men (18-24yrs) would see a counsellor if they felt low compared to 13% of young women
• Only 31% of men would talk to their family about feeling low compared to nearly half of women
• Almost twice as many men as women get angry when they are worried
• 10% of men say they find sex the best way to relax compared to 4% of women
• Almost twice as many men as women drink alcohol to cope with feeling down
• Women are nearly 5 times more likely to get tearful than men
• 45% of men think they can fight off feeling down compared to 36% of women.

2.7 million men in England currently have a mental health problem like depression, anxiety or stress (3). Even though men and women experience mental health problems in roughly equal numbers, men are much less likely to be diagnosed and treated for it. The consequences of suffering in silence can be fatal – 75% of all suicides are by men (4). The recession could make the situation much worse, with one in seven men developing depression within six months of losing their jobs (5). Unemployment also increases the risk of suicide with research showing that two-thirds of men under 35yrs were out of work when they took their own life (6).

Mental health problems impact certain groups of men in different ways. African Caribbean men are more likely to receive disproportionately aggressive treatment – they are three times more likely than white men to be formally detained under the Mental Health Act and are more likely to receive invasive medical treatments such as electroconvulsive therapy. Gay and bisexual men are at significantly higher risk too, being over four times more likely than heterosexual men to attempt suicide (7).

Mind’s Chief Executive Paul Farmer said: “The recession is clearly having a detrimental impact on the nation’s mental health but men in particular are struggling with the emotional impact. Being a breadwinner is something that is still crucial to the male psyche so if a man loses his job he loses a large part of his identity putting his mental wellbeing in jeopardy. The problem is that too many men wrongly believe that admitting mental distress makes them weak and this kind of self stigma can cost lives.”

“At this time, it’s really important that it’s as easy as possible for men to find the help they need. The Government has encouraged Primary Care Trusts to use some £80m on mental health and the recession this year, and there’s clearly a real need for them to act now to address men’s needs.”

“When men look for help, they can be put off by health premises that are geared more towards women. GP surgeries offering women’s magazines can feel like a hairdressers and make men feel uncomfortable. The NHS must become more ‘male-friendly’ offering treatments that appeal to men like exercise on prescription or computerised therapy and advertising their services in places men frequent.”"It is a major health inequality that a mental health strategy exists for women but not men. There is an urgent need for the Government to address this in the New Horizons strategy for mental health. At the heart of this is a need to help men to recognise the importance of talking about their problems and make it easier for them to ask for help.”

Stephen Fry said: “For so long I tried to get on with my life and career, somehow coping with the huge highs and lows I experienced. If I had felt able to get it off my chest when I was younger I could have got more of the support I needed. Mind’s campaign will hopefully encourage men to speak out more – stumbling through and hiding behind a front of bravado doesn’t solve anything. Seek professional help when you need it – and support Mind to get better help and services out there.”

Alastair Campbell said: “Many people, especially men, find it very hard to be open about mental fragility. They see it as a sign of weakness, and do not like to ask for help. Or they cover it with drink or drugs or behaviour generally likely to end in tears. I certainly support Mind’s call for a government specific mental health strategy for men tailored to their needs. They have one for women and children so why not men?”

Mind’s recommendations include:

• The Government must produce the first men’s mental health strategy
• The criteria for diagnosing mental health problems should be expanded to include male acting out behaviour (taking drugs, drinking, getting aggressive) as well as traditional signs of depression (sleepless nights, crying, feeling low).
• Men should be offered ‘male-friendly’ treatments like computerised therapy or exercise
• Health services should be advertised in places men frequent, such as gyms, pubs or the workplace
• GP surgeries should be gender neutral, men are often put off by what they consider an overly feminine environment
• Employers must do more to support their stressed male employees
• The needs of black and minority ethnic men must be made a priority for Strategic Health Authorities when the Delivering Race Equality strategy ends
• The relationship between sexuality, gender and mental wellbeing should be a core part of the training given to health and social services professionals.

Mind week events

Photocall – Monday 11 May, 8.45 for 8.50am

Lord Melvyn Bragg, Alastair Campbell, Stephen Fry and Heart FM DJ Matt Wilkinson will be celebrating the launch of Mind week at Victoria Tower Gardens, Westminster.

Parliamentary launch – Tuesday 12 May, 4pm

Minister of State for Care Services Phil Hope MP speaks at Mind’s Parliamentary launch hosted by Vince Cable MP.

Mind comedy night – Tuesday 12 May, 7.30pm

Top comedians including Richard Herring and Paul Tonkinson are on the bill at Mind’s comedy event.

Mind Cymru event – Thursday 14 May, 2pm

Mind Cymru will be launching the campaign in Wales at St John’s Square, Cardiff.

Mind Awards – Thursday 14 May, 6.30pm

Celebrating excellence in challenging discrimination against people with mental health problems, the ceremony will be hosted by Mind President Lord Melvyn Bragg.

Around England & Wales

Many of our independent local Mind associations will be holding events across England and Wales to celebrate Mind week. To find out what’s happening in your area visit: http://www.mind.org.uk

(1) Mind (2009) Men and mental health: Get it off your chest
(2) National Institute for Mental Health in England (2008), National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England: annual report on progress 2007
(3) The Health & Social Care Information Centre, (2009), Adult psychiatric morbidity in England, Results of a household survey
(4) Office for National Statistics (2009), Suicides
(5) Kivimaki M. et al. (2007), ‘Organisational downsizing and increased use of psychotropic drugs among employees who remain in employment’, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 61: 154-8
(6) Association of Public Health Observatories (2007) Mental health: indications of public health in the English regions
(7) King, M. et al. (2008), Mental disorders, suicide and deliberate self harm in lesbian, gay and bisexual people: a systematic review, Care Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP).

Notes

Mind is the leading mental health charity in England and Wales. We work to create a better life for everyone with experience of mental distress. http://www.mind.org.uk

Source: MIND