In this blog I am turning the spotlight on the guys & taking a look at male fertility & sperm health. For the women reading this you may need to approach your man on this subject sensitively; as culturally & emotionally being a "super stud" & having the ability to father a child goes to the core of a man's sense of masculinity & therefore his self-worth. This stems back to before the mid-fifties & prior to research on semen sample investigation; when if a couple were having difficulty conceiving the focus & medical investigation was directed at he women. The 'problem' was thought to be with her & if a man was able to have an erection & ejaculate it was assumed that he was fertile.
In my own personal experience when my husband's sperm analysis showed that he did not have any sperm in his semen, he was totally convinced that the laboratory had made an error which caused his sperm to vanish from the sample. He did not budge from this stance until six months later when he finally agreed to undergo another sperm analysis, which came back with the same result.Often the information needs to come from someone else other than you, so if your partner is willing to read the following article it could be a good starting point.
To the guys about to read this article I would like to thank you for taking the time to do so & for your willingness & openness.
Modern research has revealed that when couples are having difficulty conceiving at least 40% of the reason relates to male factors [egg & womb being the other reason] & some studies have indicated that as much as 75% of infertility may be due to the male.
The good news is that in the majority of cases natural therapies can significantly improve the quality of sperm parameters. For instance in a study of 51 infertile men who were treated with the herb Tribulus for 3 months, their ejaculate volume, sperm count & motility [movement] improved significantly. Their sperm shape & appearance normalized. In addition 31 pregnancies were recorded amongst their partners within 12 months of commencing Tribulus. It is important to realize that at least a 100 days of specific targeted treatment is required for improvement to occur because it takes this amount of time for new sperm to generate and mature
The major key for both male and female fertility is to be as healthy as possible prior to conception attempts. Recent research demonstrates that couples who undergo a comprehensive natural fertility program prior to conception attempts have approximately a 78% chance of naturally overcoming infertility and are 47.1% more likely to conceive on a IVF cycle.
1. Be a cool dude
As best you can try to avoid overheating the testicles, boxer shorts are preferable to briefs and avoid crossing your legs. Research shows that squashing the testes for long periods can impede the blood flow and damage nerves leading to tingling and numbness and may lead to infertility.
If your job requires that you sit for long periods, then I suggest that you get up and walk around regularly. Also avoid hot baths, spas and saunas. Sports like cycling or the wearing of wet suits may also be problematic
3. Environmental toxins
Environmental toxins are not only damaging to your general health, but they can kill or damage sperm to such a degree that renders them unable to effect a healthy conception, causing infertility or a contributing factor in miscarriages. Miscarriage rates are closely linked to the health and morphology (shape) of sperm.
A study carried out in Stockholm showed that more than a 43% of abnormal sperm morphology resulted in an 83.84% miscarriage rate. Sperm are very vulnerable because they are much smaller than the female egg (ovum), are more exposed and develop entirely within their environment.
Also men are generally more likely to be involved in occupations with toxic exposure such as exposure to paints, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, heavy metals and building materials. It has been demonstrated that there is a 10 fold increase in testicular cancer for offspring of men exposed to organic solvents.
Ensure that you use every possible and available clothing and protection from chemicals and toxic hazards in your workplace. Avoid the use of toxic cleaning products, insect sprays, etc in your home environment.
4. Glass is in, plastic is out
When it comes to fertility plastics have a detrimental effect. In particular try to avoid as much as possible storing food & fluids in plastic food containers, plastic water bottles and plastic food wraps and use glass whenever possible. Plastics contain a group of chemical callled phytalates that mimics oestrogen & will leach into your food & drinks & evenyually end up in you body. In men this lowers the production of testosterone which in turn can lower sperm counts and may also adversely effect other sperm parameters.
5. Clean up your diet and lifestyle
Cut out the junk food, cigarettes, alcohol, caffeine, sugar and base your meals on fresh, unprocessed vital foods. The healthier your diet and lifestyle, the more fertile you will be and the healthier your baby.
If you need more convincing on this here’s the research:
Cigarette smoking
- In 88 men aged 18-35 years cigarette smoking was associated with decreased semen density, sperm count and motility.
- Cigarette smoking reduces the ability of sperm to successfully fertilize the egg.
- There is a higher rate of respiratory diseases such as asthma in children, if their father smoked before their conception.
Caffeine consumption
- A study found a negative effect on time to pregnancy for men consuming greater than 700mg caffeine per day.
- Another study concluded that men who consumed greater than 308mg of caffeine per day had a 20% higher DNA damage to their sperm compared to men with no caffeine intake.
Alcohol consumption
- In 66 men (non-smoking) semen volume, sperm count, sperm motility and number of normal shaped sperm were significantly decreased.
- Alcohol increases the clearance of testosterone and increases its conversion to oestrogen. Good testosterone levels are required for healthy sperm production.
Marijuana use:
Reduces the production of testosterone
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