Understanding Sperm Count: What Does It Mean?
Definition and Importance of Sperm Count
Sperm density measures spermatozoa per volume unit. Millions per mm3 or ml are typical for stud farms. Based on solution density, a counting chamber with a microscope (hemocytometer) or spectrophotometer can assess sperm concentration. Regular semen samples often provide concentrations of 50-150 × 106/ml, ranging from 100-350 × 106/ml, depending on seasonal factors and ejaculation frequency.
Cell-counting chambers (hemacytometers) measure sperm concentration in accordance with WHO standards. Neubauer chambers, or hemacytometers, are the gold standard for sperm concentration. 47,48 Use 10% formol/NaCl to dissolve and immobilise the sperm aliquots. Load the hemacytometer chambers after moderate stirring. Sedimentation counts sperm microscopically in ten squares of two chamber fields. The sperm sample volume, height variables, and hemocytometer chamber volume can determine the sperm concentration. Precision in pipetting, cautious stirring, and at least 100 counts of sperm determine the procedure’s accuracy. 49 These principles make the hemacytometer technique a relatively accurate method for detecting spermatozoa concentration. Time is a drawback. 50 Routine laboratory practice seldom uses this approach.
In commercial AI dosing, accurate sperm concentration assessment of ejaculates is crucial. Reliable sperm concentration procedures are crucial for ensuring sperm processing efficiency and accuracy, particularly when commercialising stallion semen with a guaranteed amount of spermatozoa in the AI dosage. An ejaculate’s TSC is the product of seminal volume and sperm concentration per ml.
Factors Affecting Sperm Count
Two types of sperm motility describe how they swim. Progressive motility means sperm move straight or in big loops. Non-progressive motility represents sperm that swim in tight loops or do not migrate straight. Sperm must move at least 25 micrometres per second to pass through cervical mucus and fertilise an egg. Less than 32% of sperm effectively travel, leading to the diagnosis of asthenozoospermia.
Common causes of low sperm count
Lifestyle Factors: Diet, Exercise, and Stress
Stress psychological: Psychological stress affected reproductive hormones and sperm quality in infertile men in one study. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score (HADS) questionnaire measured psychological stress, revealing substantial stress in 27% of the study sample. Stressed males (HADS ≥8) showed lower testosterone levels and higher FSH and LH levels than normative men (HADS <8). However, GnRH remained constant. There was an inverse correlation between HADS and testosterone, and a positive correlation with FSH and LH. Men with HADS ≥8 showed reduced sperm count, motility, and normal morphology compared to those with normal HADS. Sperm count and motility positively correlate with serum testosterone, while LH and FSH have a negative correlation.
Party drugs: Cannabis, cocaine, AAS, opiates, and methamphetamines reduce male fertility. Drug side effects may damage the HPG axis, testicular architecture, and sperm.
Over-aged persons: Beyond 35 years of age, women face a higher chance of unfavourable reproductive outcomes. Although APA is not well-defined, studies often describe it as being between 35 and 50 years old or as having age ranges of 5 years. Despite declining over time, sperm concentration did not decrease as men aged.
Alcohol: Alcohol affects the male reproductive system at all HPG axis levels. Alcohol affects GnRH, FSH, LH, testosterone, Leydig, and Sertoli cell activity. Alcohol may affect the generation, morphological development, and maturation of spermatozoa. Alcohol use decreases spermatogenesis. Compared to non-drinkers, heavy drinkers had higher spermatogenic arrest and Sertoli cell-only syndrome.
Environmental Influences: Chemicals and Toxins
Pesticides: Eating pesticides reduces sperm count. Pesticides cause oxidative stress, hormone disruption, and sperm DNA damage in animals, affecting spermatogenesis. Individual phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables can increase semen quality, but pesticide residues may offset the health advantages.
ED chemicals: Pesticides and other endocrine-disrupting substances reduce sperm levels. Sperm counts drop due to spermatogenesis mistakes caused by BPA, an oestrogenic compound present in plastics, receipts, and food packaging. In an animal study, the BPA replacement bisphenol S induces germ cell death, lowering germ cell numbers. VLP and personal care items include phthalates, which reduce sperm counts by inhibiting spermatogenesis enzymes. PCBs, used in transformers, hydraulic fluids, and construction materials, diminish motile sperm. Lastly, men whose blood contains a lot of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), a chemical that is found in non-stick cookware and water-resistant fabrics, have a lot fewer normal sperm than men whose blood contains a lower amount of PFAAs. This suggests that PFAAs disrupt spermatogenesis and change the shape of sperm.
Circadian imbalance: The body’s biochemical processes, known as circadian rhythms, affect male reproductive function. Genetic circadian rhythm disturbance reduces sperm count by 70% in animals. In humans, irregular sleep cycles and nighttime blue light from electronics can disturb circadian rhythms. According to early human studies, shift workers, who have famously irregular sleep cycles, had lower sperm counts than non-shift workers. Watching TV or reading on an iPad before bed can also affect male reproductive function. Shift work is an extreme example.
Medical Conditions: Hormonal Imbalances and Infections
Immunological causes include lymphocytic hypophysitis, hemosiderosis, hemochromatosis, sarcoidosis, histiocytosis, tuberculosis, and fungal infections.
Cancers include sellar masses, pituitary macroadenomas, craniopharyngiomas, and those resulting from surgery or radiation therapy, as well as testicular and adrenal tumors that elevate androgen levels.
Cannabinoids, opioids, psychotropic drugs that block GnRH, androgenic steroids or testosterone from outside the body, GnRH analogues and antagonists for prostate cancer, chronic glucocorticoid therapy, alkylating agents, antiandrogens, ketoconazole, cimetidine, and BPH alpha-blockers are some of the drugs that are used.
Natural ways to boost sperm count
Dietary Changes: Foods that Enhance Fertility
Sperm production is difficult, and food and nutrition don’t affect sperm count alone. A man’s reproductive system needs vitamins and nutrients like any other organ and benefits from a balanced diet. Foods that boost sperm count include:
- Vitamin C-rich fruits
- Leafy, dark green veggies
- Fatty fish
- Walnuts
- Nutritional sources of vitamin D include fenugreeks, mushrooms, and eggs.
- In addition to eating well, avoid these things:
Don’ts
- Avoid bisphenol A-containing foods.
- Avoid trans fats
- Avoid smoking.
- Avoid drugs and binge drinking.
The Role of Vitamins and Supplements
The most commonly used nutrient supplements for chronic disease prevention are vitamin D and calcium. Age reduces vitamin D status owing to reduced nutrition, absorption, sun exposure, skin production, and 25(OH)D 1-alpha hydroxylase activity. In the STOPIT research, 98% of 70-year-olds did not reach the new vitamin D RDA, and 95% did not meet the 1200 mg/day calcium RDA. Many intervention trials show that calcium and vitamin D supplements at prescribed doses reduce bone demineralization. Therefore, geriatric supplementation with these two nutrients is nearly essential.
Vitamin B12 is another convincing reason to supplement seniors. 20% of adults over 60 have atrophic gastritis. Due to atrophic gastritis, stomach emptying and intrinsic factor secretion vary. Only in extreme gastric atrophy does intrinsic factor start to impede vitamin B12 absorption. The stomach has a substantial reserve capacity for intrinsic factor secretion. In moderate atrophic gastritis, less acid pepsin digestion makes it harder for vitamin B12 to separate from proteins and peptides in food, which lowers its bioavailability. Bacteria overgrowth in the stomach and proximal small bowel can also reduce vitamin B12 absorption in atrophic gastritis. Atrophic gastritis reduces acid killing of ingested bacteria; therefore, small intestine bacterial counts are usually 105–108 per mL of small intestinal fluid, compared to 102–103 per mL in normal old adults. The foregoing causes reduced food-bound vitamin B12 absorption in older adults with atrophic gastritis, while vitamin pills contain unaltered B12. For persons 51 and older, the RDA committee recommends getting most of their vitamin B12 by consuming foods fortified with vitamin B12 or a B12-containing supplement.
Exercise: Best Practices for Male Fertility
- Workout regularly
- Balancing weight health
- Stress reduction strategies
Lifestyle Modifications for Optimal Sperm Health
Managing Stress: Techniques and Benefits
Minimising Stress with Mindfulness: MBSR developed present-moment, non-judgemental mindfulness to help chronic pain patients. Teachers teach the “body scan,” moderate yoga, and sitting meditation over a period of eight weeks. Supine body scans encourage calm awareness and acceptance of proprioceptive and interoceptive feelings by methodically and nonjudgmentally scanning the body. Gentle stretching and movement in Hatha yoga enhance mobility and position awareness. By establishing a steady cognitive viewpoint through meditation, one can observe mental occurrences with openness and acceptance, avoiding becoming engrossed in uncomfortable ideas or sensations. Informal mindfulness is encouraged. Whether good or bad, participants practice mindfulness. The goal is to help people interact with each moment and learn to respond skillfully to stressful occurrences. With practice, we can transform reflexive conditioning from an instinctive reaction or worrying about the future to a more adaptable, measured response with more present awareness.
Standard MBSR: You can perform traditional MBSR without any equipment. Group administrators and practitioners typically have resources available to adjust yoga and movement-based programs for physically disabled participants. Blocks, straps, and yoga mats usually suffice. Refer to the work by Lehrer, Woolfolk, and Sime, titled “Principles and Practice of Stress Management”. The studies on MBSR group treatments, published by Guilford in New York, recommend reducing group sizes to 20 or fewer. Electric media and downloads provide guided activities, including the body scan and seated meditations. The internet is full of free applications and podcasts that teach mindfulness, give guided and unguided timed sitting and supine meditations, and provide guided mindfulness techniques for exercise and cleaning.
Importance of Sleep: How Rest Affects Fertility
Quantifying and defining sleep disruption in this sensitive group may alert doctors to sleep issues as prevalent infertility complications. Treatment of sleep problems as comorbid illnesses should improve infertile women’s quality of life. One or more sleep problems can moderate infertility or treatment response. If so, sleep problem therapy may improve spontaneous conception, fertility treatment response, and pregnancy success.
I am quitting bad habits: smoking, alcohol, and drugs.
Make yourself conscious of your harmful practices. Develop countermeasures. Certain behaviours are associated with places and activities. Plan to avoid the candy machine down the hall. Try to avoid smoking spots. Avoid spending time with people who are problem drinkers or drug users.
Replacement with beneficial practices might help break undesirable habits. Some people can replace a negative habit, such as drug addiction, with exercise. Volkow: “It doesn’t work for everyone.” Some people with significant addictions might engage in ritualistic and obsessive behaviours, like marathon running, to stay away from drugs. Other behaviors can reduce drug-taking cravings.
The Impact of Weight on Sperm Count
Understanding obesity and fertility: Effective Weight Management Strategies
Spermatogenesis is a sophisticated and selective process that produces sperm from adolescence to death. Sex steroids are controlled by the hypothalamus, pituitary, and testes’ Leydig and Sertoli cells, which tightly manage this highly specialised mechanism. The concept that obesity deregulations the hypothalamus pituitary gonadal (HPG) axis underpins studying this process.
Evidence suggests that male obesity reduces fertility by altering hormone levels, sperm function, and molecular composition. The nutritional state of the father affects child development, according to animal models. Fathers with poor nutrition have children with metabolic and reproductive health issues. Nutritional changes to sperm’s physical and molecular composition suggest it mediates these effects on father fertility and offspring health.
Herbal Remedies and Alternative Therapies
Traditional herbs for boosting sperm count include acupuncture and other alternative treatments.
CHM boosted sperm motility, quality, count, hormone balance, and immunological function, increasing fertility. In addition, CHM increased conventional therapy effectiveness. We need more research to identify CHM’s novel medications and ensure their safety, effectiveness, and consistency.
Conclusion
Sperm count indicates male fertility. These cells must be healthy in order to fertilise female eggs. Changes in diet and lifestyle can increase sperm count. In addition to natural semen count increases, talk to your doctor about reproductive treatments.
FAQs
1. home sperm count check?
Home sperm count kits are available. These kits collect semen samples and test them for sperm concentration. For a more thorough investigation, see a doctor or reproductive clinic.
2. Do dietary supplements boost sperm count and fertility?
Zinc, folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids may boost sperm count and fertility. Before using supplements, visit a doctor to be sure they’re beneficial for you.
3. Daily sperm production: how much?
Men generate millions of sperm daily. Average daily sperm production is between 100 and 200 million; however, this might vary.
4. What drinks boost sperm?
Drinking antioxidant-rich green tea, pomegranate juice, or smoothies with berries and leafy greens may boost sperm quality. Drinking water helps reproductive health too.
5. What impacts sperm count?
Smoking, heavy alcohol use, stress, poor diet, lack of exercise, obesity, and environmental pollutants such as chemicals or radiation can affect sperm count. Diseases, including infections and hormone abnormalities, impact sperm production.