title: Effect of the Lebanese civil war on sperm parameters.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the effect of the Lebanese civil war on sperm parameters.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective review of patient records.
  
  
  METHODS
  Males providing semen samples at a university laboratory. Semen samples collected 1985-1989 (during the war) were compared with those obtained 1991-1995 (postwar).
  
  
  METHODS
  Males with or without a history of infertility providing semen samples at a university central laboratory.
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  METHODS
  Standard clinical semen analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sperm concentration was significantly lower during the war compared with the postwar period. However, the percentage of abnormal sperm morphology increased in the postwar period. War had no significant effect on volume and motility. Postwar, the percent azospermic and those <10 million remained the same, but there was a shift in the count from the borderline count (11-20 million) to normal (>20 million).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a significant decline in sperm concentration during the Lebanese civil war. Increased stress level during the war is believed to be one of the main factors leading to this finding.
authors: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon. aa06@aub.edu.lb
authors: Antoine A
authors: AA
authors: Abu-Musa
authors: Anwar H
authors: AH
authors: Nassar
authors: Antoine B
authors: AB
authors: Hannoun
authors: Ihab M
authors: IM
authors: Usta
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007861:Lebanon; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013076:Sperm Count; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000502:physiology; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014857:Warfare