Infertility warns of future cardiovascular diseases. In a research conducted in Stanford published in Human Reproduction 2011, Dr. Eisenberg found an association of cardiovascular disease and men without children or with only one child in a population of 137,000 men between the ages of 50 and 70 years. A relationship was postulated between a fertility alteration in these men and increased risk. This relationship could occur in the context of an alteration in androgenic hormone metabolism. However, the author also notes that there could be a bias since some men simply may not want to be parents by their own decision or have partners who are infertile. Over the course of the 10-year follow-up, about 10% of men died, and one in five of those deaths was from heart disease. The researchers evaluated death rates for some 70 causes through databases and questionnaires sent to relatives.

Participants who did not have children had a 17% higher risk of heart disease than those who were parents. The researchers propose that understanding this relationship could help doctors detect disorders before they appear.