Sport, doping and male fertility

Abstract

It is universally accepted that lifestyle interventions are the first step towards a good overall, reproductive andsexual health. Cessation of unhealthy habits, such as tobacco, alcohol and drug use, poor nutrition and sedentarybehavior, is suggested in order to preserve/improve fertility in humans. However, the possible risks of physicalexerciseper seor sports on male fertility are less known. Being“fit”does not only improve the sense of well-being,but also has beneficial effects on general health: in fact physical exercise is by all means a low-cost, high-efficacymethod for preventing or treating several conditions, ranging from purely physical (diabetes and obesity) topsychological (depression and anxiety), highly influencing male reproduction. If male sexual and reproductivehealth could be positively affected by a proper physical activity, inadequate bouts of strength–both excessiveintensity and duration of exercise training–are more likely to have detrimental effects. In addition, the illicit use ofprohibited drugs (i.e. doping) has reached pandemic proportions, and their actions, unfortunately very oftenunderestimated by both amateur and professional athletes, are known to disrupt at different levels and throughoutvarious mechanisms the male hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, resulting in hypogonadism and infertility