When it comes to conceiving a child, there are lots of things that can go wrong—sperm allergies, poor egg quality, and ineffective sperm. Of the approximately 1 in 10 couples who are infertile, it has been estimated that male factors alone contribute to 30% of these cases.
Though men produce millions of sperm a day (compared to the 300–400 eggs that women release during their lifetime), external factors (like temperature) can affect the health of these little swimmers. And because sperm cells take about 75 days to grow to maturity, harming them can affect your fertility.
Here are some surprising factors that may affect a man’s sperm.
LAPTOPS
Can a laptop computer really affect a man’s ability to reproduce? Laptop computers really should not be kept in our laps, radiation from laptop could be frying your swimmers before they have a chance to live a full life.
According to research, laptops increases scrotum temperature; to an extent that can affect the normal production of sperm cells(spermatogenesis). When men use their laptops in their laps instead of on their desks, they may be overheating those male parts, which, in turn, may be damaging their sperm.
In studies, even men who used laptop pads as a buffer between their machine and their man parts, dangerously overheated themselves within 10 minutes.
Studies also revealed that warming the scrotum more than 1.8 degrees (1 degree Celsius) is enough to damage sperm. So if you’re trying to conceive, leave the laptop on the desk.
BRIEFS
One of the most common causes of low sperm count is easily reversible with a simple lifestyle change. The testes must exist at an optimal temperature for sperm production. The testes are meant to be several degrees lower than the rest of the body, and a change of just a few degrees can cause low sperm count.
Briefs and tight underwear can cause an increase in the temperature of the testes, causing it to rise above that optimal range. This can have a negative impact on male fertility. You don’t want to create a constricted environment for the testes, where sperm production occurs. Therefore, you should wear boxers and sufficiently loose pants when you and your partner are trying to conceive.
It’s not enough to simply wear boxers just before you plan on trying to conceive. It takes several weeks for the body to produce sperm, and an interruption at any point during that time can cause issues with sperm count. Plan to keep up your lifestyle changes until conception occurs.
If you wear briefs, making the switch to boxers will be the first suggestion by your doctor to increase fertility. If you continue to try to conceive for 6 months to a year with no success, then your doctor may look at other causes of your problem, and other options to increase fertility.
BAD DIET
This one is sort of linked to obesity, but not always. If a man only eats junk food and unhealthy stuff, his body won’t be able to make healthy sperm, decrease in normal sperm and his is more likely to be misshaped and puny. While men who eat less junks and process food tend to have much healthier sperm quality as the body needs certain vitamins and nutrients in order to produce healthy sperm. Eating a healthy and well balanced diet is key to healthy fertility.
Also many researchers believe the biggest source of BPA contamination comes through food packaging. Sure, canned food is convenient, but almost all of those metal cans are coated with a BPA resin, which migrates into the food. Acidic canned products, such as tomato paste or sauces are particularly saturated with BPA.
Also, hidden sugar is hidden in almost every type of processed food you can find under your roof; these sugars are likely killing your sperm count.
Protect yourself choose fresh or frozen food instead of canned whenever possible, and buy foods like pasta sauce in glass jars rather than in cans.
CELL PHONES
The advice about cell phones in proximity to a man’s reproductive organs varies; leaving your cell phone in your pocket could be very well damaging your sperm quality. Studies have found that when semen is exposed to the radio waves that are emitted by cell phones, it can cause damage to the quality of the sperm.
There was a study done in 2008 that noted that men who spent the most time on a cell phone through high cell phone usage leads to lowered sperm counts, quality, motility, and morphology.
It is better to keep your phone in your briefcase rather than in your pocket, to limit radiation exposure as most doctors agree that as long as your man doesn’t keep his cell phone in his front pocket, he should be okay. Don’t ditch your cell phone, but be smart in how you use it — don’t put your cell phone in your front pocket. Altering where you keep your mobile phone is a fairly easy lifestyle change to make, and certainly will do men no harm.
However, because the studies have been small, some doctors disagree.
TOBACCO, ALCOHOL AND MARIJUANA
Tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana can impair sexual function; have a range of short and long term health effects, including effects detrimental to the production of sperm. These effects include reduced concentrations of sperm in the semen and reduced concentrations of sperm which have a normal shape and are able to move or swim. Men who are trying unsuccessfully to conceive, and those who wish to protect the health of their sperm for the future, should therefore avoid a range of drugs, including alcohol and tobacco.
Smoking tobacco
A number of studies have reported an association between tobacco smoking and male infertility and/or suboptimal sperm production. A review of observational studies on smoking and semen parameters found that 20 of the 25 studies reported an increased risk of lower sperm concentration in smokers compared to non-smokers. On average, sperm concentration was 13% lower in smokers compared to non-smokers. Smoking men also had a lower average proportion of sperm that were motile (moving or swimming) and morphologically normal (sperm with a correct body shape), compared to non-smoking men.
Recreational drugs (including alcohol)
Recreational drugs (also called lifestyle drugs) include marijuana, alcohol, heroin and cocaine. These drugs can impair sperm production and/or quality. Long term overconsumption of alcohol is associated with decreased semen parameters (decreases in one or more of the measures of semen quality) as determined by semen analysis testing, and detrimental changes in hormonal levels.
Source: Nordica Lagos Blog
