Obesity, too much alcohol, and smoking cigarettes all negatively affect sperm count and overall sperm health. So does stress. In fact, stress can actually cause sperm abnormalities and lower sperm concentration.
Lifestyle choices can lower sperm numbers. Smoking, drinking alcohol, and taking certain medications can lower sperm numbers. Other causes of low sperm numbers include long-term sickness (such as kidney failure), childhood infections (such as mumps), and chromosome or hormone problems (such as low testosterone).
A trained expert checks your sperm count, their shape, movement, and other characteristics. In general, if you have a higher number of normal-shaped sperm, it means you have higher fertility. But there are plenty of exceptions to this. A lot of guys with low sperm counts or abnormal semen are still fertile.
Men start losing their fertility at age 40.
In a study of more than 1,900 couples, irrespective of the woman's age, IVF attempts involving men 40 or older failed 70 percent more often than IVF attempts involving men younger than 30. Previous theory: Older men produce fewer kids because they get less sex.
Peak male fertility is around 25-29 years old. Sperm quality begins to decline at 30. At 45, men begin to experience a significant decrease in semen volume. Older men can also take longer to conceive a child.
While there is no definite age at which male ejaculation ceases, it has been suggested that it may happen when a man reaches his late 40s or early 50s. It is important to note, however, that this is not a universal rule and some men may continue to ejaculate at a later age.
Causes of male infertility
Abnormal sperm production or function due to undescended testicles, genetic defects, health problems such as diabetes, or infections such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, mumps or HIV. Enlarged veins in the testes (varicocele) also can affect the quality of sperm.
Human males also detect the high-fertility (ovulatory) period in women by bodily odour [4], which may act as a form of sexual stimulant for men [5, 6].
There is no way for either of the partners to know if the sperm entered the egg. The only way to know for sure if the sperm did enter the egg is after a positive pregnancy test.
excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and using drugs such as marijuana or cocaine. certain medications, including testosterone replacement therapy, long-term anabolic steroid use, cancer medications (chemotherapy), some antibiotics and some antidepressants. being overweight or obese.
Sperm can survive for up to five days in sperm-friendly cervical mucus. Cervical mucus around the time of ovulation helps protect the sperm and keeps it alive, plus it makes it easier for the sperm to reach the egg, should it be present.
Only one sperm needs to survive in order to fertilize an egg. However, the journey from the man's testicle to the woman's uterus is long and arduous. After ejaculation, a single sperm cell measuring only 0.5 mm needs to swim over 152 mm from the base of the cervix to the egg for fertilization.
While painful, most of the time, a hit in the balls will not harm your fertility. But if the impact is significant or an unaddressed injury causes an infection, your fertility may be at risk.
Some studies suggest that moderate ejaculation (2–4 times per week) is associated with a lower prostate cancer risk. However, ejaculating more often doesn't mean your cancer risk drops even more.
Being dehydrated may lead to lower semen volume. Hypogonadism (low testosterone levels). Insufficient testosterone affects the function of the reproductive organs that produce the fluids for semen. Reduced secretions can cause low semen volume.
Thicker semen may also have an easier time staying in the reproductive system long enough to fertilize an egg (Gurung, 2021). That said, if the semen is too thick (hyperviscous semen) it can interfere with sperm nutrition and motility, resulting in poorer quality semen (Beigi Harchegani, 2019).
The concentration of sperm is what makes the semen cloudy and thick, so if your ejaculate is watery it is possible that you have a low sperm count. This doesn't mean you're infertile (so precautions to prevent pregnancy still need to be taken for couples that don't want to get pregnant).
There's no maximum age that stops a man from being able to have a baby. You can become a father long into your older years, but there are risks.
Medication can treat some issues that affect male fertility, including hormone imbalances and erectile dysfunction. Surgery can be effective for repairing blockages in the tubes that transport sperm. Surgery can also be used for repair of varicocele.
There's no specific age at which erectile dysfunction (ED) starts. But ED is much more likely after the age of 50. Although you can't change your age, you can take steps to improve your overall physical health and prevent weight gain, heart disease, and diabetes.
A woman's peak reproductive years are between the late teens and late 20s. By age 30, fertility (the ability to get pregnant) starts to decline. This decline happens faster once you reach your mid-30s. By 45, fertility has declined so much that getting pregnant naturally is unlikely.
For healthy semen samples collected between 5:00am and 7:30am were found to exhibit a statistically higher sperm concentration, total sperm count and a higher percentage of normally shaped sperm, compared to samples produced later in the day. Sperm motility was not influenced by the time of sample production.