One of the best-kept secrets in the world of infertility is that, believe it or not, "Male Factor" plays a major role in up to 50% of the cases of infertility.
Despite the above figure, only a small percentage (about 5%) of our patients has been formally diagnosed with any sort of "male factor" involvement.
However, when sperm parameters are considered (ie: sperm count, motility, morphology, etc.
) many men are being brushed-off as having only "borderline" male factor involvement and being told the borderline values will not be of impact.
A "borderline" value is still technically a value that is "sub-normal" and one that is definitely not "optimal".
The fact of the matter is that most reproductive medical clinics only need one sperm to fertilize an egg with IVF in a process called ICSI (Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection).
In this way, as far as assisted reproductive technology is concerned, the male portion of the infertility equation has been circumvented with little or no attention.
Unfortunately, this ignores some very important facts.
To begin with, many clinics only look at three major factors: sperm count, sperm motility and sperm morphology.
There are, however, many other aspects to sperm health beyond these three.
Looks aren't everything in the world of sperm.
For example, newer technology is now demonstrating that there can be significant DNA fragmentation (damaged DNA) in sperm that "look good" & appeared "normal" according to basic parameters...
and DNA fragmentation is only one test.
There are many other potential factors that contribute to suboptimal sperm that science has yet to identify.
Consider this.
1.
Male fertility significantly declines with age.
With all other factors being equal, at 35 years of age, a man has only HALF the fertility potential he had before age 30.
2.
Any male over 35 is twice as likely to be infertile as a male under 25.
Infertility is only one aspect of "older" sperm, with IVF and ICSI bypassing only some of the limitations of suboptimal sperm.
Bypassing a problem, however, is not correcting the problem.
Pregnancy studies have shown that the miscarriage rates increase proportionally with the age of the father independent of the mother's age.
Studies have also found that children of men of advancing age were much more likely to have developmental problems.
For example, offspring of men aged 40 years or over were almost 600% more likely to have autism than offspring of men under 30.
The same is true for Down syndrome where paternal age was a factor in half of the cases where the maternal age exceeded 35 years.
Men over 40 years old are also more than twice as likely to have a child with schizophrenia.
And the list goes on..
..
�� What all of this data tells us, is that we should address the health of both partners to optimize our chances of having healthy pregnancies AND healthy children.
Even if we are planning on doing IVF/ICSI, we should not simply rely on "adequate" sperm quality, as ignoring the realities of male factor could be ignoring HALF of the problem.
Reversing the risk factors involved with advancing paternal age and sperm damage is very important to both your health, and your future baby's health.
Studies have found that the combination of acupuncture, herbs and nutrition (diet and supplementation) can substantially improve the overall health and efficacy of one's sperm.
This, however, should not be a process of randomly taking self-prescribed supplements and herbs, as you could be doing yourself a great disservice.
Studies have shown that taking too much of a nutrient can damage sperm as much as having too little of that nutrient.
Nutrition, diet and supplementation (herbal medicine, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc..
) make up a delicate balance for each person and your particular, individual requirements should be investigated, determined and discussed with you by a licensed practitioner so as to help you achieve optimal results.
By identifying and correcting your unique health imbalances, you can optimize your fertility potential and the health of your future child.