With the increasing health awareness, more and more men are joining the ranks of pregnancy preparation. People gradually realize that wanting to conceive a healthy baby is not something for women alone, and men’s responsibility is becoming more and more important. Therefore, it is especially important to improve the quality of male sperm. From a macro perspective, measures to improve the quality of male semen can be divided into two major aspects: adjusting lifestyle and taking medical measures, the former mainly by adjusting lifestyle without the use of drugs or surgery to achieve the purpose of improving semen quality, while the latter requires the use of drugs and sometimes surgical methods to achieve the purpose of improving semen quality The latter requires medication and sometimes surgery to improve semen quality.
First of all, let’s talk about how to adjust your lifestyle.
I. Adjustment of lifestyle.
1, quickly quit smoking and alcohol
Foreign studies have shown that smoking can increase sperm DNA damage; increase aneuploidy sperm; tobacco has more than 20 harmful ingredients, which can directly kill germ cells, can also inhibit sperm production, affecting male erectile function. Men who smoke for a long time have high sperm malformation rates, low sperm motility, erectile dysfunction, and high fetal malformation rates. Avoid excessive alcohol consumption. Research data shows that drinking below a moderate amount has little effect on fertility. So we recommend that couples of childbearing age take a “three month closure” before giving birth!
2, away from radiation and toxic chemicals
In modern society, electromagnetic radiation is almost everywhere, such as induction stoves, computers and cell phones, etc. It brings convenience to our lives, but also has a negative side, which is to affect the quality of male semen. Radiation is inversely proportional to the cube of distance, with a 1-fold increase in distance and 1/8 of radiation attenuation, so it is necessary to stay away from radiation to improve the quality of male semen. There are many chemicals in life that affect male fertility; some chemicals can also interfere with the human endocrine system, so these chemicals are also known as endocrine disruptors (EDs), endocrine disruptors (EDs) are mainly atrazine (Atrazine, which is a pesticide), octylphenol (Octylphenol), methoxydichlorodiphenyl, bisphenol A, tetraoxydiphenyl Dioxane, etc., away from toxic chemicals in order to improve the quality of male semen.
3, avoid local high temperature and high fever in the genitals
(1) hot baths, less washing points: research shows that the temperature needed for sperm to occur in the testicles of mammals should be less than 37°C. If the local temperature rises, such as taking a sauna, or wearing tight underwear for a long time will make the local temperature rise, which will affect the quality of male semen. So I advise all the fathers-to-be to take hot showers, less;
(2) tight pants, throw aside: tight pants, jeans seem to be the favorite of many male friends ha, but want to be a father, it is best not to wear too tight pants, and of course do not wear too tight underwear. Too tight pants, synthetic materials and too high temperatures have been shown to affect male fertility.
(3) Fever should be looked at early, don’t carry it: a high fever may also affect the quality of male semen, and some information suggests that if the fever exceeds 39 degrees, sperm production may be inhibited for up to six months in some sensitive men. Small foreign studies have shown that high fever can affect sperm DNA integrity, and some foreign IVF centers recommend that patients should preferably undergo IVF treatment 2 months after a high fever.
4. Balanced diet, how to eat good sperm
Some men think that eating more will ensure nutrition. In fact, this idea is too one-sided, nutrition comes from a variety of foods, and men preparing for pregnancy should not only eat a lot, but also eat a variety. Especially the trace elements zinc and selenium associated with sperm production and maturation, once lacking, will reduce sperm production, which leads to higher sperm malformation rate.
5, control weight, move
The latest research shows that exercise helps to improve androgens in men and can improve semen quality. Too much or too little body fat can disrupt the normal production of sex hormones, which will reduce the number of male sperm and increase the percentage of abnormal sperm. So if you want to be a father, get moving and keep your weight within the normal range so that you can produce lots of high quality sperm! Walking, swimming, table tennis, badminton, basketball and so on, adhere to at least 30 minutes of exercise every day, the effect will certainly be good oh.
6, excessive fatigue to avoid, maintain a good mood is very critical
If you are ready to have a baby, the father-to-be must pay more attention to rest ha! Continuous night work, long distance travel, excessive physical labor, strenuous sports, too much concentration and sustained mental labor and other excessive fatigue conditions are not suitable for conception. If you plan to have a baby, you should choose to conceive when both parties are full of energy and in a comfortable mood.
7. Be clean and avoid reproductive infections
The reproductive health of men and women is a basic prerequisite for pregnancy preparation. The most common infections that affect sperm deformities are prostatitis, vesiculitis, urethritis, orchitis, epididymitis and so on. Therefore, all fathers-to-be must be clean and avoid reproductive infections.
The main medical measures are drugs and surgery (such as varicocele surgery, etc.), but these medical measures require a face-to-face consultation with a doctor at a regular hospital
1.Drug abuse is very dangerous, fathers-to-be should read more drug instructions
Some drugs may affect the quality of male semen and need to be applied under the guidance of a doctor. These drugs mainly include: hormones, such as high-dose glucocorticoids, androgens, anti-androgen drugs, progestins, estrogens, LHRH (GnRH) agonists or antagonists, anabolic steroid hormones (abused by athletes and some young people hoping to increase muscle strength), etc. These hormones can affect the quality of male semen, but these impairments are usually reversible. Drugs used to treat hypertension tend to cause erectile dysfunction, especially beta-blockers and thiazides, but most do not affect reproductive function; however, a few may affect fertility. Amphiregulin, which can antagonize androgenic effects in some tissues and impair semen quality. Calcium channel blockers can also cause reversible impairment of sperm function. 5a reductase inhibitor finasteride, when used for prostate enlargement (5 mg/day), can cause a decrease in semen volume, but no impairment in semen quality was found when used for alopecia (1 mg/day). Cimetidine, which competitively inhibits the action of androgens at the receptor level. Colchicine, which may cause direct toxicity to spermatogenesis. The immunosuppressant cyclosporine A can impair fertility in rodents, but there is a lack of studies on whether it impairs fertility in humans.
2, please find a regular hospital male doctor, to give you some drugs to improve sperm quality treatment
For the treatment of male infertility, we medical doctors have three weapons, medication, artificial insemination or IVF, but these treatments should be chosen carefully according to the principles, because medication costs money and has side effects, surgery has trauma and complications, which, as Lao Tzu said: “The soldier, the weapon of evil, the sage must not be used”. The choice of medication, artificial insemination or IVF should be made according to the principles: medication, we must pay attention to the course of treatment, not blindly prolong the drug treatment; medication is ineffective, artificial insemination or IVF.
Drug treatment, must pay attention to the issue of the course of treatment, not blindly extend the drug treatment time. The process of spermatogenesis is 64 days, that is, the release from the basement membrane of the seminiferous tubules into the lumen of the tubules; followed by maturation in the epididymis, which takes about 2 to 12 days (about 2 days on average for men with high sperm production and about 6 days on average for men with low sperm production), a spermatogenic cycle of about 3 months, so if empirical drug treatment is taken, the course of treatment should be generally 1 to 2 spermatogenic cycles, that is, 3 to 6 months, and the effectiveness of empirical treatment is not good. Assisted reproductive technology needs to be considered.
The theoretical system of both is inaccessible. Western medicine is evidence-based until today, i.e. diagnosis and treatment should be based on evidence from large-scale clinical trials, while Chinese medicine is still the philosophy of discernment + empirical treatment + individualized treatment created by the medical sage Zhang Changsha, etc., because the theoretical system of both is inaccessible. Because the theoretical systems of both are inaccessible, it is likely to be unreliable to simply take the evaluation criteria of Western medicine to assess the Chinese medicine. The two treatment objects are human beings, not other creatures, is a human being must conform to the laws of human beings, so whether it is Chinese medicine or Western medicine, the treatment of infertility is the most critical thing is the problem of drug regimen. It is not possible to use a large number of drugs, nor to extend the drug cycle without restriction.
Consider assisted reproductive technology, then should be able to do artificial insemination, not IVF; can do the first generation of IVF, not the second generation of IVF. Under normal physiological conditions, there are hundreds of millions of sperm in one ejaculation, sperm need to pass through the cervical canal to reach the fallopian tube and meet the egg cell, in this process, only the best sperm can reach the egg cell around and the egg cell for Ovulation, this number is about dozens to 200 sperm; and, the egg cell only fertilizes with its most favored sperm, once fertilized, the rest of the sperm cannot fertilize with it again So this is natural selection. If you do artificial insemination, the sperm is put directly into the cervical canal, which reduces some natural selection; in the first generation of IVF, the sperm is around the egg cell, so there is less natural selection again; in single sperm injection, there is even less natural selection. Therefore, it is recommended to do artificial insemination, not IVF; to do the first generation of IVF, not the second generation of IVF. Artificial insemination, generally recommended to do 3 to 6 consecutive cycles, information shows that the cumulative 3 cycles of artificial insemination success rate of about 20%.
3, some times a simple surgery can make the sperm quality exponentially higher!
(1) Varicocele is a disease that is caused by obstructed venous reflux within the spermatic cord, so the spermatic veins begin to tortuously expand, which will eventually lead to an increase in temperature within the scrotum, destroying the environment where sperm live and causing a decrease in sperm quality and testicular function. Most sperm have reduced motility in this overheated environment and do not have the stamina to complete the arduous marathon task of finding an egg. Varicocele is currently considered to be the cause of male infertility most in need of surgical correction. However, there are many methods of surgical treatment, and the most commonly performed are traditional open surgery, laparoscopic surgery and microsurgical approaches. Most foreign and domestic studies have concluded that microsurgery is the most suitable for infertility and can achieve the best results, just like the difference between inverter and fixed-frequency air conditioning, which can make sperm more comfortable.
(2) Is azoospermia really an incurable disease, like many cancers? I remember in the past, in the domestic academic conference, often scholars in the discussion, due to the current increase in private irregular hospitals, these hospitals for the purpose of making money, azoospermia patients over-treatment, causing great suffering to these patients, then although there is no effective treatment for azoospermia, but we, the public regular hospital, at least can tell patients, do not have to be in Continue treatment. This can at least reduce the unnecessary pain and burden on the patient. However, with the rapid development of assisted reproductive technology in recent years, there have been many technological breakthroughs in the treatment of azoospermia in male medicine. For patients with obstructive azoospermia, surgical treatment is now completely curable.
The so-called obstructive azoospermia means that the testicular sperm production function is basically normal, but due to various reasons, the sperm discharge channel is blocked. In fact, this surgical technique was available a long time ago, but due to the limitations of the surgical technique at that time, the success rate of the operation was very low, but in recent years, due to the rapid development of microsurgery for male infertility, the success rate of this surgical technique has increased to more than 70%. (2) The success rate of this technique has increased to more than 70%.
(3) Even for patients with non-obstructive azoospermia, because the testicular function is severely impaired, testicular puncture biopsy may not be able to retrieve sperm, but there may still be some focal normal spermatogenic tissues in the testes, so it is possible to search for sperm in the testes under a high-definition surgical microscope through microscopic sperm retrieval technology, which greatly improves the possibility of finding sperm and the amount of sperm collected, so that these patients can still find sperm through microscopic sperm retrieval technology. It is still possible to find sperm through microscopic sperm retrieval technology and do IVF to fulfill a dream of fatherhood.
Although under a microscope, all sperm look like tadpoles! But in fact, if you look at it according to biological studies, every sperm is different. According to the WHO guidelines for human sperm work, normal sperm account for only about 4%, while deformed sperm account for a huge portion, about 96%.
I. Sperm “looks” bad conception difficulties – sperm malformation rate affects the chances of conception
Mr. Wang has recently become more and more distressed, he and his wife have been preparing for pregnancy for more than a year, but have been unable to successfully conceive. He and his wife have been preparing for pregnancy for more than a year, but they have not been able to conceive successfully. Last week, his wife went to the hospital for a checkup first and no other problems were found. So, Mr. Wang was asked to go for a checkup this week as well.
Mr. Wang had no choice but to go to the hospital for a checkup. The first time he heard the doctor’s introduction, he realized that his sperm were not vigorous enough, and more seriously, 98% of the sperm in his body were malformed – some were head malformed, others were neck malformed, and some even had no tail.
Mr. Wang was puzzled if these unsightly sperms were the cause of his long-term infertility?
This requires sperm with a very high fertilization potential. These sperm are not healthy and in normal form.
There is a saying that those sperm that do not look good have little chance of meeting the egg princess.
Every man has “bad looking” sperm – the rate of normal sperm morphology in men with normal fertility is greater than 4%? The medical analysis of the normal form of sperm characteristics, found that their head shape is smooth, curved regular, roughly oval, length to width ratio of 1.5, the acrosome area accounted for 40%-70% of the head area, the tail can be bent, but not into an angle bend, etc.. Such sperm are the “elite” with the ability to fertilize, and their conception rate is much higher than other deformed sperm. So, is Mr. Wang the only one who has these deformed sperm? In fact, any male with normal fertility will have most of the malformed sperm in his sperm, while the normal form of sperm only accounts for about 4%.
The sperm deformity is not easy to conceive a child deformed?
For the doctor’s explanation, Mr. Wang had another doubt: the proportion of deformed sperm is so high, his wife will be pregnant, will not also give birth to deformed children?
In this regard, it is medically determined that the shape of the sperm is mainly related to the probability of pregnancy, but has little to do with the essence of the sperm (genetic material), just as there is no direct relationship between the appearance of a person and the essence of a person, whether a person looks good or not does not indicate the health of a person, and it cannot be said that a person who looks unattractive has bad health. There is also no inevitable link between sperm deformity and whether or not to give birth to deformed offspring.
Fourth, how to reduce the rate of sperm malformation? -Start by changing your lifestyle!
1. Quit smoking and limit alcohol.
Smoking and alcohol have always been a poison for people preparing for pregnancy. There are many factors that affect sperm malformation, of which an unhealthy lifestyle is a key factor. It has been confirmed that alcoholism may damage sperm and cause an increase in the rate of sperm malformation, while nicotine in cigarettes also tends to lead to an increase in the incidence of malformed sperm. It is worth noting that smoking is also a major source of weak spermatozoa.
2, balanced diet.
Some men believe that eating as long as possible to ensure nutrition. In fact, this idea is too one-sided, nutrition comes from a variety of foods, men preparing for pregnancy should not only eat a lot, but also eat a variety. Especially the trace elements zinc and selenium associated with sperm production and maturation, once deficient, will reduce sperm production, which will lead to higher sperm malformation rate.
3, appropriate exercise.
It is best to participate in some small, gentle and sedate exercise programs, for example, jogging, tai chi, etc., to calm the mood, and then gradually transition to a large amount of exercise. In order to relieve stress, many people often deliberately choose those large amounts of intense sports, trying to secrete “sweat” in order to release stress and bad mood. As doctors we feel that intense and heavy exercise will not only cause physical fatigue, but also make nervous nerves more tense. This not only does not relieve stress, but also will make the emotions into a worse situation.
4, avoid sedentary, reduce the local temperature.
For some men preparing for pregnancy who wear tight underwear for a long time, sit for a long time (driving, cycling) and love to take hot baths, the high body temperature will affect the development of sperm. In the period of sperm maturity, it is suitable for the temperature is 35 to 36 ℃, when various reasons lead to the scrotum temperature rise, are not conducive to sperm development.
5. Cleanse yourself and avoid reproductive infections.
The reproductive health of men and women is a basic prerequisite for pregnancy preparation. The more common infections that affect sperm deformities are prostatitis, vesiculitis, urethritis, orchitis, epididymitis, etc.