A Danish study shows that the sperm count of men in Western countries has dropped by nearly half in the past 50 years. Statistics show that among couples who have been married for many years and cannot conceive a child, female factors once accounted for 70%; but now, the proportion of male and female factors has become equal. All these show that male fertility is actually declining, so blaming women entirely for their inability to conceive is more untenable than ever.
In fact, the examination of male infertility is very simple. Basically, a routine semen examination can confirm the diagnosis, and the results can be obtained on the same day. Women must undergo basic ovarian function assessment, endocrine examination, and fallopian tube patency test. It will take a month or two, and the cost is much more than a routine semen examination. Therefore, when infertility is discovered, men should first do a routine semen examination to check, which can save time, money and effort.
Semen is composed of sperm and seminal plasma, of which sperm accounts for 10% and the rest is seminal plasma. In addition to water, fructose, protein and fat, it also contains a variety of enzymes and inorganic salts. During the reproductive process, sperm and egg combine to form a fertilized egg, which develops into an embryo. This is how a baby is born. Semen abnormal infertility is divided into two categories: semen abnormalities and sperm abnormalities. The former refers to the amount, color, and quality of semen, while the latter refers to the amount, quality, and deformity of semen.
Sperm abnormalities usually include the following aspects.
oligospermia and hypospermia:Generally normal semen discharged at one time The amount is 2 to 6 ml. Less than 1.5 ml is hypospermia, and more than 6 ml is hyperspermia. An increase in semen does not mean an increase in sperm.
Hematospermia: There is blood in the semen. In severe cases, blood in the semen can be seen with the naked eye, which is called \” \”Naked hematospermia\”; in mild cases, it is not visible to the naked eye, but red blood cells can be seen with the help of a microscope, which is called \”microscopic hematospermia.\”
Anti-liquefaction of semen: Generally, normal semen is a uniform flowing liquid. If the isolated semen is in At room temperature (22~25℃) still does not liquefy or still contains non-liquefied agglomerates for 60 minutes, which is called \”semen non-liquefaction syndrome\”, which affects the agglutination or braking of sperm and slows down or inhibits the normal movement of sperm.
Hyperzoospermia and polyzoospermia: Generally, the number of sperm in a normal semen is 2 0 million to 200 million/ml. Those with a sperm count less than 20 million/ml are called hypospermia, and those with a sperm count of more than 300 million/ml are called polyzoospermia.
Azoospermia: If no sperm is found in three semen tests, it is azoospermia. The disease is further divided into two types: \”congenital azoospermia\” and \”obstructive azoospermia\”. The former means that the testicular spermatogenic cells atrophy and degenerate and cannot produce sperm; the latter means that the testicles can produce sperm, but the vas deferens is blocked and cannot be discharged. sperm.
Necrozoospermia: The survival rate of sperm in semen is reduced, and more than 40 dead sperm are found in semen examination. % of patients have necrozoospermia, also known as necrozoospermia. However, due to improper examination methods or failure to collect semen according to normal methods, the artificial increase in dead sperm is called pseudonecrozoospermia and must be identified.
Sperm abnormality:More than 20% of abnormal sperm in semen, including head, body, and Abnormal tail shape, or mixed head and body deformity.
Sperm agglutination: Due to the presence of sperm antibodies, sperm self-agglutination, through sperm agglutination test and Those who show sperm agglutination in post-coital tests are diagnosed with sperm agglutination.
Sperm motility disorder: Sperm motility can be classified into 5 levels, with level 0 being none. Mobility; Level 1 indicates poor motility, the sperm can only move or rotate in place; Level 2 indicates moderate motility; Level 3 indicates good sperm motility; Level 4 indicates very good motility, and the sperm moves forward in a straight line very actively. sports.
In fact, oligozoospermia is the most common among male infertility. It can reduce fertility or cause infertility. This kind of infertility belongs to the category of relative infertility. Under normal circumstances, within 1 hour of semen being discharged from the body, more than 70% of normally viable sperm shouldOn the other hand, if dead sperm exceeds 40%, it can cause infertility. The sperm survival time should maintain a survival rate of more than 20% for 6 hours. If there are no viable sperm within 6 hours, infertility can occur. Sperm activity is directly related to the fructose contained in the seminal vesicles. Reduced fructose and nutritional deficiencies will result in higher sperm mortality. In addition, the lack of vitamin A and vitamin E also has a great impact on sperm activity. It is inevitable to have a certain number of abnormal sperm in sperm. It is generally considered that less than 10% can be called normal, and if it exceeds 10% or even reaches 20%, it will cause infertility, because in this case, it is often accompanied by poor liquefaction, low motility, etc. Sperm quality issues.
So, how are these diseases caused?
The medical community believes that in addition to those caused by the environment and living habits, other sperm and semen abnormalities caused by the following diseases are also included.
Orchitis: Orchitis is usually caused by bacteria and viruses. Bacterial infections rarely occur in the testicles themselves. Because the testicles have a rich supply of blood and lymph fluid, they have strong resistance to bacterial infections. Bacterial orchitis is mostly caused by inflammation of the adjacent epididymis, so it is also called epididymo-orchitis. Common pathogenic bacteria are Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, etc. Viruses can directly invade the testicles, and the most common one is mumps virus. This pathogen mainly invades the parotid glands of children. 4.4% of mumps patients have orchitis. Therefore, viral orchitis often appears shortly after the onset of mumps. Orchitis significantly affects sperm quality and increases the incidence of azoospermia, especially bilateral orchitis. Whether it is unilateral or bilateral orchitis, an increase in abnormal semen analysis will have adverse effects on fertility. But when orchitis is cured, sperm abnormalities will disappear, so patients with orchitis must be cured before conceiving.
Sexually transmitted diseases: People with sexually transmitted diseases generally show a decrease in sperm motility, which It is related to disorders of accessory gonad function, especially epididymitis. What cannot be ignored is that Ureaplasma urealyticum and Chlamydia trachomatis infections are very common in clinical practice and are extremely harmful. Moreover, these infections may have no obvious symptoms in the early stages and are even more hidden.
Physiological changes of testicles: Testicular damage is often accompanied by urethral symptoms, while those without damage only 8.8% experienced this symptom. Moreover, the infection rate of the accessory gonads is also higher in the former. Although the incidence of testicular torsion is not high, it is often complicated by azoospermia and oligozoospermia. Epididymis or orchitis is also a common disease. The sperm density and motility rate of such patients are significantly lower than those without this history. Inflammation of the epididymisThe incidence rate is also higher. These factors are common causes of testicular physiological changes.
Genitourinary system diseases: If prostatitis, urethritis, etc. are not cured for a long time, they will eventually affect the testicles. Causes abnormal semen production. At the same time, since prostatic fluid is one of the main components of semen, if the prostate is inflamed, the quality of semen will definitely decrease. Moreover, urogenital diseases such as prostatitis and urethritis will affect each other, causing the condition to worsen repeatedly. Symptoms such as difficulty urinating, frequent urination, and hematuria should rule out seminal vesiculitis and prostatitis.
Endocrine dysfunction: Endocrine dysfunction can cause sperm and semen abnormalities, such as hypothalamus-pituitary-testis Axial function decline, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, etc.
Sperm and semen abnormalities caused by varicocele or abnormalities caused by genetic diseases.
In fact, a large part of the factors that cause the serious decline of sperm quality in modern men are closely related to the current living environment and living habits, such as the following factors.
Phthalates Chemical Substances: Phthalates are commonly used in toys, food packaging, wallpaper, detergents, lubricants, nail polish, hair sprays, soaps and shampoos liquid and hundreds of other products. It can interfere with endocrine, reduce male sperm count, reduce motility, abnormal morphology, and in severe cases can lead to testicular cancer. Nail polish contains the highest content of phthalates, which can enter women\’s bodies through their respiratory systems and skin, harming the reproductive systems of their baby boys.
Cigarettes: The nicotine in cigarettes can damage sperm, reduce the sperm content in male semen, and increase the rate of abnormal sperm.
Alcohol: Alcohol can weaken reproductive functions, cause chromosomal abnormalities, and cause fetal malformations or dysplasia.
Car exhaust: Car exhaust contains a large number of harmful substances, especially dioxins, which are extremely strong environmental endocrine disrupting substances, which can change the morphology of male testicles, reduce the number of sperm, and reduce spermatogenesis.
High temperature environment: High temperature environment directly affects sperm quality. Men should try to avoid staying in high temperature environment for too long, such as taking saunas and hot water baths.
Radiation: Some of the marble, ceramic tiles, granite, toilets, etc. used in home decoration may contain ultra-standard rays. Electromagnetic waves, microwaves, infrared rays, ultraviolet rays, ultrasonic waves, lasers, etc. are non-ionizing radiations. These physical factors have thermal effects and can also cause damage to gonad tissue.
Laptop computer: The research results of American researchers show that the maximum internal temperature of a laptop computer can reach 70°C when running; if you put the laptop computer on your legs for a long time to work,Raising the temperature of the scrotum by nearly 3°C may reduce male sperm count, especially for young men.
Noise: Noise can cause endocrine disorders and lead to abnormalities in semen and sperm. Prolonged noise pollution can cause male infertility.
Trace elements: The lack of trace elements can lead to reduced semen quality, including zinc, selenium, copper, calcium and magnesium. Zinc deficiency will affect the development of male reproductive organs and secondary sexual characteristics in adolescence, reduce sperm motility, weaken the body\’s immune function, and make men susceptible to infectious diseases such as prostatitis and epididymitis. Selenium deficiency will increase the concentration of peroxides in the body, causing damage to the male reproductive system and testicles. In addition, sperm suffering from unbalanced nutrition can easily lead to necrozoospermia.
Drugs: sedatives, sleeping pills, anti-cancer drugs, busulfan, hormone drugs, etc. in chemical drugs can hinder sperm growth. Therefore, men should try to avoid long-term and large-scale exposure to such drugs.
Sperm abnormalities often cause many harms, and most of these harms focus on fertility.
Causing infertility:Sperm abnormality causes poor sperm quality, low quantity, low motility, Deformities, etc., leading to infertility, which is the main hazard of sperm abnormalities.
Easy to cause miscarriage: Male sperm abnormalities are very important to the quality of fertilized eggs, embryos, and fetuses Many embryonic cessations, habitual miscarriages, premature births, stillbirths, etc. are caused by sperm abnormalities.
Not conducive to fetal development and growth: Fetal malformations, intellectual disabilities, developmental abnormalities and other problems are all There is an extremely close internal connection with male sperm abnormalities.
Causing inflammation: Various parts of the reproductive and urinary system affect each other. If sperm is abnormal, the vas deferens and epididymis Inflammation may also occur in other parts of the body.
As for the treatment of patients with sperm abnormalities, traditional Chinese medicine believes that the kidney stores essence and qi transforms essence. If the balance of kidney yin and kidney yang is out of balance, Qi deficiency will cause sperm abnormalities and change the quality of sperm. At the same time, the kidney yang is depleted and the phase fire is too hot, which will also burn the sperm, resulting in sperm abnormalities. Integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine therapy is a commonly used treatment method in hospitals. Traditional Chinese medicine treats sperm abnormalities, and Western medicine nourishes and improves sperm survival rate. The treatment principles include syndrome differentiation and treatment, adjusting human endocrine, and regulating the occurrence, discharge, and maturation of sperm., exercise; combine Chinese and Western medicine to improve blood circulation in the testicles and epididymis, enhance spermatogenic function, and promote sperm production and maturation; improve the internal environment of spermatogenesis, regulate the secretory function of accessory organs, and increase sperm density, sperm motility, and sperm motility rate, thereby Acquire motility and fertilization.
Western medicine generally recommends zinc supplementation therapy, that is, appropriate zinc and selenium supplementation. Zinc is very abundant in male testicles and semen. Zinc participates in the entire process of sperm generation, maturation, activation and capacitation. Zinc supplementation can effectively improve sperm density and sperm motility, increase the activity of liquefaction enzymes in semen, and shorten the semen liquefaction time; zinc and selenium can also effectively antagonize semen. Heavy metals such as lead and cadmium in the environment can damage the testicles and ensure their normal spermatogenic function.
According to new research results from the World Health Organization (WHO), a considerable number of infertility patients have not found obvious organic lesions after various examinations. Most of these patients have psychological factors or sexual behaviors. Caused by improper methods. \”Infertility psychological and behavioral guidance therapy\” is a new treatment method used in the field of infertility. Psychotherapy is a process that uses the principles of psychology to solve patients\’ psychological problems and barriers and help patients restore their mental health through processes such as guidance, support, explanation, inspiration, education, training, and drug use. Sexual behavior guidance is to guide the patient\’s sexual behavior correctly. This method is convenient, fast and effective, and plays a positive role in further treatment.
This article is provided by Baidu Reading. It is excerpted from \”Very Good Pregnancy: You Can Get Pregnant by Doing This\” Author: Yu Yue\’e