Do You Know What the Causes of Low Sperm Count Are?

First low sperm count is a medical symptom that can cause male infertility, which shouldn’t be taken lightly. And second it has a serious negative effect on men’s self-confidence, self-esteem, and relationship satisfaction, which should not be underestimated either. So it is important to know what the causes of low sperm count are:

There are biological and environmental factors that affect sperm count:

Temporary and Lifestyle Factors

Temporary and lifestyle factors are the most common causes of low sperm count. They are easier to deal with and usually do not require professional medical help. Here are the most common conditions that can lower sperm count temporarily:

Stress – physical or mental. Emotional stress might interfere with the hormone GnRH and reduce sperm count temporarily.

Premature ejaculation, impotence, psychological or relationship problems can also affect men’s fertility. Usually they are treated very successfully.

High fever, exposure to high temperatures, drug abuse, smoking, food poisoning or nutritious deficit are more common conditions that can lower sperm count temporarily.

Overheating of testicles caused by high fever or temperatures

Overheating of testicles caused by high fever or high temperatures ( such as from saunas) may temporarily lower sperm count. Constant exposure to overheating (like at work place) might cause male infertility.

Drug Abuse

Use of cocaine or marijuana temporarily reduces sperm count and quality to 50 per cent. These drugs not only lower sperm motility, but also inhibit its ability to penetrate the egg.

Obesity and Nutrient Deficiencies

As we all know obesity is a cause for many health problems, so no wonder why some studies have found connection between men obesity and low sperm count. It’s not good to overeat, but the lack of nutrients like folate, zinc, selenium, Vitamin C might also cause low sperm count.

Heavy Smoking

Smoking is a very bad habit. If you have it – get rid of it. In fact smoking prevents you from practicing one good habit of yours – regular sex. Smoking lowers sexual drive in male smokers, which leads to less frequent sex activity, and as we all already know everyday sex or ejaculation is beneficial for increasing the quality of the sperm, not its volume.

The genetic changes heavy smoking can cause might seriously affect sperm count by lowering it, and also reduce sperm motility and lifespan, which eventually will impair the man’s fertility in a way that you’d better never find the hard way.

Other conditions that affect sperm count in long-term basis include Varicocele, radiation exposure to heavy metals and treatment, or toxic exposure to chemicals, genetic disorders.

Varicocele

Varicocele is an abnormal enlargement of the veins in the scrotum that connect to the testicles. It is found in 15% to 20% of all men and it is really sad that ¼ to ½ of these men are infertile.

Exposure to Heavy Metals

Prolonged exposure to arsenic, lead or cadmium can cause decrease in sperm production even to healthy men. How? Trace amounts of these heavy metals found in semen seem to make the enzymes contained in the acrosome (the membrane covering the head of the spermatozoon) dysfunctional.

Radiation Treatment

Despite their helping and life saving properties, radiation treatments and x-rays are bad for the rapidly dividing cells, such as the ones producing sperm. In fact they are very sensitive to radiation and usually it might take somewhere between 2 and 3 years to resume the normal sperm production, or the worst case scenario is never to recover.

Environmental Assaults

Again prolonged exposure to environmental assaults such as toxins, chemicals or infections can seriously decrease sperm count either by directly affecting the testicular function or by harming the hormone systems. These are some of chemicals that can lower sperm count: oxygen free radicals, estrogen emulation pesticidal chemicals (DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, PCPs, dioxins, and furans), plastic softening chemicals like phthalates, hydrocarbons (ethylbenzene, benzene, toluene, and xylene)

Genetic Causes of Low Sperm Count

Genetic causes are inherited genetic disorders or other genetic conditions caused by environmental assaults. Such as:

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder that causes a low sperm count. Men diagnosed with it produce normal sperm but are missing vas deferens (the tube which carries sperm). 97 percent of men with cystic fibrosis are infertile.

Klinefelter syndrome is a rare disorder. Affected males have two X chromosomes (XXY) and as we all know the norm is XY, which leads in almost al case to sterility. It’s a serious condition that causes decreased testicular hormone/endocrine function and it is also true that XXY men often also have small testicles.