Sperm from a man's body unites with a
woman's egg to create a totally unique and genetically irreplaceable
human life. It's an amazing process. Yet most men know very little
about what contributes to reproductive health - or conversely, what
undermines it. We seldom think about our fertility or the health of our
sperm... except perhaps during sexual activity. Yet science tells us we
should consider our fertility and be protective of it.
Indeed, there are things we can do to safeguard our
reproductive health...and the well-being of our future children. It all
starts with being more knowledgeable about our health in general, and
about behavioral choices and environmental hazards that can adversely
affect our reproductive well-being.
Infertility
Isn't Just The "Woman's Problem" Anymore.
It used to be, and not so long ago, that if a couple was
unable to conceive, the woman was the "infertile one."
Now it is generally recognized within medical circles
that the problem lies with the man in 35% of cases (some say a couple's
inability to conceive is due to male conditions 40% - 50% of the time).
This is an incredible statistic, when you consider
that the average, healthy male releases somewhere between 120 million
and 600 million sperm each time he ejaculates, and manufactures an
estimated 400,000,000,000 sperm in his lifetime. It would appear that
men have it made in the reproductive department, but this is not always
the case, and sometimes things go haywire.
The most common reason for infertility in the male is
the inability to produce adequate numbers of healthy sperm. Infertility
in men may also be caused by problems delivering sperm into the vagina,
as occurs in impotence or in disorders affecting ejaculation, including
inhibited ejaculation and retrograde ejaculation
(when ejaculate is forced backward into the bladder). It may also be
caused by failure of the testes to descend into the scrotum, by diseases
or severe physical injuries which damage the sperm-producing structures,
or by antibodies to the sperm found in either the male or the female.
Obstacles
To Fertilization.
A number of problems can prevent fertilization from
taking place, and many of these can indeed originate with the male. The
major cause of male infertility is an inability to produce enough
healthy sperm.
All of the
unwanted pregnancies occurring each year in the U.S. might lead you to
believe otherwise, but for fertilization to occur, all systems have to
be A- OK, on-line, and fully functional.
For example,
your sperm must be present in sufficient volume, it must be active, it
must not be clumping together, it must be relatively normal in shape and
size, and it must not be adversely affected by sperm antibodies either
in the man or in the woman. Further, it must be able to penetrate the
barrier of the woman's cervical mucus and overcome staggering odds to
ever even reach the fallopian tubes and go on to meet the egg.
When the
couple can't conceive despite repeated attempts, your doctor may
recommend a semen analysis to assess male factors which might be
preventing fertilization. Your sperm will be put under the microscope,
literally and figuratively.
Delivering
The Specimen.
You will be
asked to provide a semen sample by masturbating into a clean,
large-mouth, glass jar or plastic specimen cup, or by ejaculating into a
special condom without spermicide during intercourse with your partner.
The important thing is to keep the sample warm (men are often asked to
carry the container under their armpits), and get the sample to the
laboratory for analysis quickly. Most fertility experts want your semen
within an hour, preferably sooner.
What Is Semen Made Of?
As mentioned previously, the average, healthy man will
have anywhere from 120 million to 600 million sperm in a single
ejaculation. Besides sperm, semen contains water; simple sugars (to
provide fuel for sperm); alkalies (to protect sperm against the acidity
of the male urethra and the vagina); prostaglandins (substances that
cause contractions of the uterus and fallopian tubes, and are thought to
aid in the sperm's passage to the womb); vitamin C; zinc; cholesterol;
and a few other things.
While semen can transmit a variety of diseases,
including the AIDS virus, healthy semen doesn't contain anything that's
harmful or bad for the health.
What Does
A Semen Analysis Analyze?
The complete semen analysis includes:
- Volume of the semen
- Sperm count (the amount of sperm in a certain
volume of semen, also known as the sperm concentration or sperm
density)
- Sperm size and shape (morphology)
- Sperm motility (percentage of actively moving
sperm)
New, computer-assisted sperm analysis may help assess
sperm motility more accurately. Using a computer in combination with the
microscope, a technician can assess how rapidly sperm move and how
straight they swim.
Other factors that infertility specialists look at
include the quality of the seminal fluid in which sperm swim, and the
sperm's ability to survive in and move through cervical mucus, as well
as its ability to penetrate and fertilize an egg.
What's The
"Norm" In Semen?
- Volume: 3 milliliters (2 to 6 mL range considered
normal)
- Concentration: 20 million sperm or more per
milliliter
- Motility: 50% of sperm still active after two hours
- Normal forms/appearance: 60% of the sperm
- Viscosity - ejaculate normally liquefies within an
hour
- pH: 7 to 8
How To
Enhance Your Reproductive Health
- Stop smoking. Smoking is linked to low sperm counts
and sluggish motility, and recent findings suggest a 64 percent
increase in miscarriage when both partners smoke or when just the
man smokes.
- Give up marijuana. Long-term use of marijuana in
men results in a low sperm count and sperm that exhibit abnormal
patterns of development.
- Stay off the sauce. Chronic alcohol abuse damages
the intricate plumbing of the male reproductive system, reducing a
man's ability to produce normally formed sperm cells.
- Ease up on intense exercise. Men who exercise
excessively may be reducing their sperm count due to the heat that
builds up around the testicles during strenuous exercise.
- Up your C. Low vitamin C levels may cause sperm to
clump together, rendering as many as 16 percent of all men
infertile.
- Check into your antibiotics. Some groups of
antibiotics have been shown to affect sperm quality temporarily by
decreasing count and motility. These groups are nitrofurans
(nitrofurazone or nitrofurantoin) and macrolides (erythromycin).
- Stay clear of environmental poisons and hazards.
These include pesticides/insecticides, organic solvents, lead,
ionizing radiation, heavy metals, and toxic chemicals.
- Check your nutrition. If you're malnourished or not
getting enough of the right foods and nutrients, your sperm count
could suffer.
- Keep your scrotum cool. Watch out for excessive
heat in the scrotal area. Wear loose-fitting underwear (not tight
jockey shorts), and avoid tight-fitting jogging pants. Avoid hot
tubs, hot baths, saunas, or hot work environments.
-
Abstain,
but not too long. Brief periods of sexual restraint (three to six
days) seem to increase both the volume and potency of semen.
Prolonged abstinence, on the other hand, will result in a higher
volume of older sperm, which exhibit decreased motility.
What Can
Hurt Your Fertility And Your Chances Of Fathering A Healthy Child?
Your fertility is often a reflection of your general
health. If you are healthy and abide by principles of good healthy
living, chances are your sperm will also be healthy, provided you
haven't sustained permanent damage to your sperm-making equipment in the
past (through trauma or infection, for instance), or weren't born with a
disorder or structural problem that could prevent you from producing
viable sperm. The following list of "threats" to male
fertility, while certainly not all-inclusive, will help you to avoid
injurious substances, situations, and behaviors:
- Smoking (smoking significantly decreases both sperm
count and the liveliness of sperm cells)
- Prolonged use of marijuana
- Use of other "recreational" drugs (e.g.,
cocaine)
- Chronic alcohol abuse
- Use of anabolic steroids (which can cause
testicular shrinkage and infertility)
- Overly intense exercise (excessive exercise may
lower your sperm count by producing higher levels of adrenal steroid
hormones, which lower the amount of testosterone in the body. This
testosterone deficiency, in turn, decreases sperm production)
- Inadequate vitamin C and zinc in the diet
- Some groups of antibiotics (e.g., nitrofurans and
macrolides) - The antidiarrheal drug sulfasalazine - The anti-fungal
medication ketoconazole. Azulfidine, a drug used to treat ulcerative
colitis - Varicocele (a varicose vein in the testicle that produces
too much heat, which harms and kills sperm)
- Infections of reproductive system structures, such
as prostatitis, epididymitis, and orchitis
- Infectious diseases that affect the testes, such as
mumps in adulthood
- Trauma or injury to the testes
- Exposure to DES (diethylstilbestrol) during your
mother's pregnancy, which can cause testicular and epididymal
abnormalities and decreased sperm production
- Fevers
- Tight underwear or jogging pants
- Hot tubs, saunas..anything that raises the
temperature of your scrotum, including overheated vehicles and hot
work environments
- A testosterone deficiency
- Exposure to environmental hazards such as
pesticides, lead, paint, radiation (x- ray), radioactive substances,
mercury, benzene, boron, and heavy metals
- Chemotherapeutic (cancer-treating) agents
- A blockage or structural abnormality in the vas
deferens
- Damage to the spermatic ducts, usually due to a
sexually transmitted disease such as gonorrhea or chlamydia. Also,
passing a sexually transmitted infection onto your partner may
render her infertile
- Malnutrition and anemia
- Tuberculosis
- Excessive stress
Can
Damaged Sperm Result In Birth Defects?
Researchers now suspect that reproduction and fetal
development may be affected if the biological father has been exposed to
lifestyle or occupation hazards, such as smoking cigarettes, drinking
alcohol, taking non-prescribed drugs, and being exposed to toxic
chemicals.
The foregoing information provided
as a public service, compliments of:
ROSE
MEN'S HEALTH RESOURCE
Rose Medical Center
4567 E. Ninth Avenue, Suite 020
Denver, Colorado 80220 U.S.A.
(303) 320- ROSE (7673)
