Thursday, September 25, 2008

Antidepressants may damage male fertility

Common antidepressant drugs may reduce some men's fertility by damaging the DNA in their sperm, according to scientists. A study of 35 healthy men given paroxetine -- sold as Paxil or Seroxat by GlaxoSmithKline found that, on average, the proportion of sperm cells with fragmented DNA rose from 13.8 percent before treatment to 30.3 percent after just four weeks. Similar levels of sperm DNA damage have been linked to problems with embryo viability in couples trying to have children. The research by Peter Schlegel and Cigdem Tanrikut of the Cornell Medical Center in New York was reported in New Scientist magazine and is due to be presented in November at a meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

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