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Male infertility causes

Medically Reviewed by Dr Sravya, MBBS, MS 

Introduction

Male infertility causes

To explore the possible impact of lifestyle variables on the health of male reproduction. There is growing evidence that the quality of human sperm has been reducing globally in recent decades. This decrease may be caused by environmental, occupational, and changeable lifestyle variables. This study focuses on important lifestyle variables, such as cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, drug usage, obesity, emotional stress, advanced paternal age, dietary habits, and coffee consumption, which are linked to male infertility. The use of mobile phones leads people to electromagnetic radiation, testicles, heat stress, hard cycling exercise, loss of sleep, and other issues that are explained in brief.

Table of Contents

    1. Factors affecting male infertility

      1. Smoking
      2. Alcohol
      3. Recreational drugs
      4. Obesity
      5. Emotional stress
      6. Advanced paternal age(APA)
      7. Diet
      8. Caffeine
      9. Other lifestyle risk factors

    2. Conclusion

Factors affecting male infertility

  • Smoking
  • Alcohol
  • Recreational drugs
  • Obesity
  • Emotional stress
  • Advanced paternal age (APA)
  • Diet
  • Caffeine
  • Other lifestyle risk factors

1. Smoking

  • More than 7000 compounds, including nitrosamines related to tobacco, are found in cigarette smoke.
  • Smokers are more likely to be exposed to dangerous compounds including tar, highly addictive nicotine, carbon monoxide, and toxic elements like cadmium and lead.
  • It is well known that smoking cigarettes may reduce male fertility. More frequent cigarette use causes oxidative stress and antioxidant deficiencies in the body, which impacts sperm function and eventually lowers male fertility. According to reports, male smokers' sperm concentration is generally 13–17% lower than non-smokers.
  • Further, sperm motility, morphology, and count are all linked to smoking adversely. The decrease in semen quality was observed to be worse in heavy smokers (more than 20 cigarettes per day) and moderate smokers (ten to twenty cigarettes per day) than in light smokers (one to ten cigarettes per day).
  • In comparison to non-smokers, the general effect of smoking on male fertility may result in increased oxidative stress, DNA damage, and cell death, a decrease in the quality of semen, as well as reduced spermatogenesis, and sperm maturation

2. Alcohol

  • When we experimented in the lab an exposure of alcohol on the sperm was found harmful to sperm morphology and motility, but in a dose-dependent manner.
  • When we experimented in the lab an exposure of alcohol on the sperm was found harmful to sperm morphology and motility, but in a dose-dependent manner.

3. Recreational drugs

Male infertility symptoms
At home male fertility test
  • Drugs like marijuana, steroids, narcotics, and methamphetamines are examples of illegal drugs that produce a negative response on male fertility. The effects of these drugs may impair sperm functions. Cannabis is also known as marijuana and is the mostly abused illegal drug globally. Daily marijuana smoking leads to lower sperm count and concentration.
  • Cocaine is a powerful stimulant and extremely addictive narcotic. Before mating, male rats were continuously administered large doses of cocaine, which resulted in reduced fertility rates and birth weights. Cocaine exposure, whether acute or long-term, interfered with spermatogenesis and harmed the testicular ultrastructure. A larger percentage of sperm with irregular morphology and decreased quality and motility were seen in long-term (5 years) cocaine users.
  • Males generally utilise steroids to improve their athletic ability and/or physical attractiveness. Steroid usage results in higher amounts of exogenous testosterone, which has a negative feedback effect on the HPG axis, leading to infertility, testicular shrinkage, and reversible inhibition of spermatogenesis. Erectile dysfunction and libido loss are further side effects of abusing steroids. Steroid usage should be strongly discouraged since some research has suggested that the effects of steroid use on male fertility may be more long-lasting.

4. Obesity

  • The body mass index (BMI) can be used to measure excess fat deposits and determine if a person is overweight or obese. Males who are overweight have lower-quality sperm and are more likely to have infertility. Obese males were more likely to be infertile because their sperm contained a larger proportion of DNA fragmented, abnormally shaped, and low MMP (mitochondrial membrane potential) sperm
  • In a population-based study, it was shown that in overweight and obese males of undetermined fertility, poor ejaculate volume, sperm concentration, and total sperm count were more common. They failed to discover a connection between body size and sperm motility, morphology, or DNA damage, either. Regarding their testosterone and sex hormone- binding globulin levels declining with increasing BMI, smaller research including 23.3% obese men found no increased relative risk of unusual parameters in semen in overweight and obese men. In addition, males who are overweight or obese have lower inhibin B levels and higher oestradiol levels.
  • Obese people tend to have more extra white adipose tissue, which increases the breakdown of the hormone testosterone to oestrogen. Systemic inflammation brought on by insulin resistance and cholesterol may result in oxidative damage. Testicular stress due to heat and oxidative stress is caused by increased scrotal fat. Lack of activity and excessive scrotal temperature both inhibit spermatogenesis. DNA integrity, sperm mobility, and sperm-oocyte contact are all affected by elevated oxidative stress.

5. Emotional stress

  • Stress, in any form, may harm a man's ability to reproduce. The hypothalamus-pituitary- adrenal (HPA) axis is involved in the traditional stress response, which also involves the sympathetic nervous system.
  • The HPG axis is then inhibited, which lowers testosterone levels. This finally results in a lack of spermatogenesis by altering Sertoli cells and the blood-testis barrier.
  • The fundamental mechanism behind the negative effects of psychological stress on spermatogenesis is the impairment of testosterone production. In stressed rats, higher corticosterone levels were shown to lower levels of both testosterone and inhibin B.
  • Male infertility may be caused by psychological stress, which is linked to unusual levels of semen and decreased paternity.

6. Advanced paternal age (APA)

  • The age of 35 is considered an advanced maternal age, beyond which women have a considerably higher variance of having poor reproductive results.
  • The definition of APA, on the other hand, has not been as clearly established, with studies typically defining it as being between 35 and 50 years old or grouping it into age groups of 5 years.
  • Age-related declines in semen volume, sperm total and advance motility, normal sperm morphology, and an increase in the breakdown of DNA were found in a meta-analysis of 90 trials with 93 839 individuals. Sperm concentration did not decrease with growing male age, but its continuous decrease.
  • The analysis of the parameters of semen in healthy men within a broad age range (22-80 years) found that the amount of semen and sperm movement decreased gradually and consistently with age without reaching a particular age threshold.
  • However, a retrospective analysis involving 5081 men (aged 16.5-72.3 years) found that the sperm parameters started to decrease at the following ages: total sperm count and total motile sperm after age 34; concentration of sperm and a percentage of sperm with a normal shape after age 40; sperm movement and progressive parameters related to moving sperm after age 43; ejaculate volume after age 45; and ratio of Y: X-bearing sperm after age.
  • These age-dependent changes in semen quality are likely the result of physiological changes that occur in the reproductive tract with ageing, a decreased ability to repair cellular and tissue damage brought on by exposure to pathogens or diseases, and an increase with age in the chances of developing reproductive damage from exogenous exposures like smoking or infections.
  • Age-related morphological changes in the testis, such as a reduction in the number of germ cells, Leydig cells, and Sertoli cells, along with structural alterations, such as the narrowing of seminiferous tubules, leading to a decrease in testicular function and metabolism in older men.

7. Diet

  • The quality of the semen is greatly influenced by diet and nutrition. A recent thorough systematic evaluation of observational research concluded that eating a healthy, balanced diet might increase male fertility rates and semen quality.
  • For example, it was shown that low semen characteristics were negatively related to the traditional Mediterranean diet, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamins and low in saturated and trans-fatty acids. Therefore, higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet may help to enhance the quality of semen.
  • A more "prudent" diet focused mostly on white meat, fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. The 'Prudent' diet, which is healthier, was favourably correlated with sperm increasing motility, but not with sperm concentration and morphology. It was shown that a healthy diet improved at least a single parameter of semen quality.
  • Fruits and vegetables, fish and poultry, cereals, low-fat dairy products, and vegetables and fruits were among the diets that were favourably correlated with sperm quality. But inferior semen quality and decreased fertility rates were linked to diets high in processed meat, full-fat dairy items, coffee, alcohol, and sweetened beverages.

8. Caffeine

  • Consuming caffeine may harm sperm DNA and affect male reproductive function. The research Ricci et al. meta-analysis raises the possibility that coffee use and double-strand breakage of DNA are related.
  • Healthy, non-smoking males of any age who consumed more than 308 mg (about 2.9 cups) of coffee per day showed enhanced double-strand sperm damage to DNA.
  • However, the Belloc et al. experiment indicated that consumption of coffee was linked to a decreased risk of increased fragmentation of DNA.
  • It has also been investigated if caffeine may be hazardous to development in terms of male offspring's reproductive system. Men whose mothers consumed more coffee when they were pregnant showed a propensity to have less semen and less testosterone.

9. Other lifestyle risk factors

Scrotal hyperthermia
Male infertility symptoms
  • Scrotal hyperthermia:- Scrotal hyperthermia-related genital heat stress is a significant risk factor for male infertility. Testicular stress due to heat can be caused by lengthy periods of sitting, and exposure to thermal radiation. Spermatogenic arrest, germ cell death, stress from oxidation, and sperm damage to DNA are all caused by high scrotal temperatures. There is a link between higher testicular heat production and cycling as a sport.
  • Sleep disturbance:- Male fertility may be negatively impacted by sleep disruptions because patients who had trouble falling asleep had less semen.

Conclusion

Numerous risk factors might have an impact on the quality of sperm. Tobacco usage, alcohol consumption, illegal drug use, obesity, psychological stress, APA, diet, and caffeine intake are some examples of lifestyle variables. The harmful impacts of these elements may even worsen from one generation to the next before being passed on to their children. Their negative impacts can be greatly reduced by altering behaviour and making healthier lifestyle decisions. In this way, it may also be possible to lessen the negative effects that these variables have on the male reproductive capacity, leading to a more positive outcome.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, males can acquire fungal infections, particularly in the genital area. Although it is less frequent in men than in women, men must recognize the signs and seek proper treatment. 

No, fungal infections are not classified as sexually transmitted infections. However, sexual activity can sometimes upset the natural balance, increasing the risk of infection.

While vaginal yeast infections are more frequent in women, they can occur in men as well, mainly through sexual transfer.

For minor yeast infections, over-the-counter antifungal treatments can be beneficial. However, if symptoms persist or worsen, it is essential to seek medical attention.

Stress can impair the immune system, making it more difficult to battle illnesses such as yeast infections.