New study finds Ibuprofen linked to male infertility

A study has found links between taking ibuprofen and lower fertility among young men.

Scientists said the health effects of the over-the-counter painkiller “required further investigation, given its widespread use for aches, pains, fever and arthritis, as well as its popularity among athletes,” reports The Times.

Research on healthy young men who took the common painkiller for up to six weeks “showed that the drug disrupted the production of male sex hormones and led to a condition normally seen in older men and smokers,” says The Guardian.

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The 18 to 35-year-olds who took part in the study developed a disorder called “compensated hypogonadism” within two weeks of having 600mg of ibuprofen twice a day. The condition arises when the body has to boost levels of testosterone because normal production in the testes has fallen.

“Our immediate concern is for the fertility of men who use these drugs for a long time,” said David Mobjerg Kristensen at the University of Copenhagen, who led the study. “These compounds are good painkillers, but a certain amount of people in society use them without thinking of them as proper medicines.”

The doctors said that while the “compensated hypogonadism” was mild and temporary in the volunteers, they feared it could become permanent in long-term ibuprofen users. This would lead to continuously low levels of testosterone, because the body could no longer compensate for the fall.

In March of last year Jiri Dvorak, Fifa’s former chief medical officer, warned of an “alarming trend” among elite football players to “abuse” legal painkillers such as ibuprofen. Before he stepped down in November 2016 “he asked players about their use of over-the-counter painkillers and found that nearly half of those who played in the past three World Cups took anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, every day,” says The Guardian.

The study is the first to show that ibuprofen has an impact on adults’ testicular health but “builds on several that suggested that offspring’s fertility could be affected by their mother having taken the painkiller during pregnancy,” adds The Times.