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The interplay between male fertility, mental health and sexual function

Declining birth rates are drawing attention to male reproductive health, with infertility receiving overdue interest. Alongside genetic and environmental factors, lifestyle behaviours are a key risk factor. Exploring how lifestyle behaviour links to mental health and its interplay with sexual function and fertility can improve understanding of trends in live births and improve men’s health overall.

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Fig. 1: The interplay between male fertility, mental health and sexual function.

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Acknowledgements

V.J.S. and M.C.M. are supported by ESSGN (HORIZON - MSCA - DN - 2021 (101073237)) and the Leverhulme Trust Large Centre Grant LCDS (RC - 2018 – 003). M.C.M. is additionally supported by ESRC/UKRI Connecting Generations (ES/W002116/1), an ERC Advanced Grant (835079), EU MapIneq (202061645) and Einstein Foundation Berlin (EZ - 2019 - 555 - 2).

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Correspondence to Vincent J. Straub.

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M.C.M. is a Trustee of the UK Biobank, on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Our Future Health and Lifelines Biobank and on the Data Management Advisory Board of the Health and Retirement Survey. V.J.S. declares no competing interests.

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Straub, V.J., Mills, M.C. The interplay between male fertility, mental health and sexual function. Nat Rev Urol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-024-00936-1

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