Depression pill may damage men’s chances of having children

Anti-depressants taken by millions of Britons may damage a man’s sperm and limit his chances of fatherhood, doctors have warned.

Taking paroxetine tablets for just a few weeks can more than double the amount of damage to the DNA in sperm, a study found.

IVF doctors said the findings were ‘alarming’.

But they warned those keen to start a family not to stop taking their anti-depressants without speaking to their doctor first because coming off the treatment could increase the risk of suicide.

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The researchers, from the Cornell Medical Centre in New York, examined the sperm of 35 healthy men before and after a course of the popular anti-depressant paroxetine, which is also known as Seroxat.

Superficially, the men’s sperm seemed healthy, with the quantity, shape and ability to move all showing as normal.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

But closer inspection revealed that the proportion with DNA damage rose from 13.8 per cent to 30.3 per cent after just four weeks, New Scientist magazine reports.

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