Why is Male Fertility Dropping?
Over the past twenty years infertility has increased dramatically and the historical trend of assuming it was the woman that was the issue has been replaced. Now many recent studies have shown that men are often the one in the hot seat. Women definitely have more reasons for infertility whereas with men it’s all about the swimmers. There are three basic tests that are indicative of sperm health. These are the total sperm count, the morphology (shape) and the motility (movement). This is even becoming so common that at-home tests are available over the counter to test these essential aspects of male fertility.
Why the rise in male infertility you ask? The most common reason is the prevalence of latent Infections in men. It seems to be more of an issue with men because they often don’t experience symptoms of infection in the reproductive tissues whereas women may run screaming to the drugstore. Often men assume changes in urination or even ejaculation are “normal” or just an early symptom of a prostate issue. Another reason for latent infection is that often the wrong medication group is provided, such as giving an antibiotic when the issue is actually a fungal or viral infection.
The reason why infections are a common source of poor quality semen is because chronic inflammation that accompanies any infection can create scar tissue reducing the number and movement of sperm or even the volume of semen. Infection often causes a mixture of other bodily fluids such as blood or white blood cells that cause an immune reaction in the woman’s uterus preventing conception.
Another common issue in male fertility is the effect of dramatically increasing cannabis use. There have been more than 600 studies around the world in both human and animal trials which confirm that regular cannabis use has a negative effect on all parameters of sperm health and male fertility. The more available and normalized cannabis becomes, the more men will turn to this as a stress-relieving therapy.
The third issue in male fertility is the prevalence of toxin and chemical exposures in working environments. Even small amounts of exposure daily can dramatically reduce fertility. Many men don’t want to use the protective gear provided in a job site whether because it impedes ease of work or it’s too cumbersome, it makes their face too hot or they just don’t like the stigma of using protective gear. Manufacturing jobs, landscaping, construction, hair or nail salons, meat processing plants, waste disposal, firemen, healthcare workers and even IT people are all exposed to a variety of toxins every day at their job. One of the most common issues I see with male infertility is someone who always works on their laptop literally in their lap. Nothing like exposing your genitals to the EMFs that a laptop puts out!
The last common concern I see in my office is a complete lack of nutrition. It’s as though men think that just showing up is enough. As long as they can get out of bed and get their workday done, they’ve won. The thought that vitamins, minerals, enzymes and hormones are essential chemicals the body needs to produce Olympic swimmers is not really on the radar screen. Every guy knows about Testosterone, but start asking about any other hormone in their body and they are generally quite clueless. So a good two months of eating well and supplementing their daily food intake is a critical piece of improving sperm fertility factors.
Scanning these possibilities is the first step to creating a better fertility possibility. Then try a couple of wonderful basic possibilities for sperm improvement: Tribulus terrestris and Tongkat Ali. These herbs, Tribulus from Bulgaria and Tongkat from Indonesia, are the best way to get the swimmers swimming like they are twenty again. This can be working during the time that you are evaluating and resolving the underlying causative factors.
So be a man and contribute to a healthy fertility match with your partner!