Lifestyle Causes Of Male Infertility
Table of Contents
Occupational And Environmental Factors:
Endocrine Disruptor Compounds:
Introduction:
Male infertility refers to fertile
females who are unable to cause pregnancy. In humans, it accounts for 40-50% of
infertility. It affects about 7%of all men. Male infertility is usually due to
defects in semen, the quality of which is used as an alternative measure of male
fertility.
Factors of particular attention in the
scientific literature are recognized health risks such as smoking, alcohol and
obesity. Other factors are also being considered in the literature, including
drug use, genital heat stress, psychological stress and cellular telephone.
These factors receive much less attention and the evidence for their impact on
semen quality and male fertility remain inconclusive.
Smoking:
Cigarette smoke
is identified as Somatic Carcinogen and Cell Mutagen. There is considerable
evidence that proves smoking adversely affects male reproductive health,
although the impact of smoking on male fertility has been a highly
controversial issue. Some early studies have found no association between
smoking and sperm quality or damage to sperm DNA, while others have only found
effects on sperm volume.
The harmful effects of smoking on
fertility in men are now clear. Tobacco effects can be observed at the
microscopic and molecular levels. Under the microscope, sperm concentration,
motility and morphology are affected. At the molecular level, increased risk of
sperm aneuploidy, sperm membrane phospholipid asymmetry and sperm DNA
fragmentation higher levels of oxidative stress in semen has been recorded. In
addition, smoking in pregnant women during pregnancy may have an adverse and
irreversible effect on the semen quality of male offspring, in addition to a
higher risk of birth defects in offspring and childhood cancers.
Alcohol:
Alcoholism has been associated with
reproductive health disorders such as impotence or testicular atrophy. With an
increase in alcohol intake, spermatogenesis seems to gradually worsen. Chronic
drinking has an adverse effect on male reproductive hormones and semen quality.
A case-control study conducted in Japan showed that alcohol intake in infertile
men was significantly higher than in the control group. Alcohol exposure in
vitro induces sperm motility and morphological reduction, and response is dose-dependent.
Another concern is that concurrent toxicity habits may have a synergistic
effect on male reproduction. The synergy of alcohol and smoking consumption on
the parameters of sperm.
Obesity:
A common observation in the Western
world is an increase in the average body mass index (BMI) in the general population
which leads to an increase in the prevalence of obesity. Several studies have
linked obesity to lower semen parameters in the World Health Organization
(WHO). In a study, it was found that the potential male BMI, was associated with
infertility (defined as unprotected intercourse after 12 months without
pregnancy). They found a dose-response relationship between infertility and
male BMI, which is similar for older or younger men. Other authors found that
semen parameters (mainly sperm count, motility, or sperm DNA integrity) and/or
reproductive hormones (testosterone, inhibin B, estradiol) were affected in men
with BMI above or below normal levels.
The maternal BMI may also have an
impact on the future semen parameters of male offspring, although the problem
is far from UC-Ming. A reverse dose-response was found between maternal BMI and
son's inhibin B hormone. In addition, sperm concentration, semen volume, the
percentage of active sperm, testosterone and FSH point estimate
indicates that the overweight mother's son semen quality is impaired, although
these values do not reach statistical significance.
Recreational Drug Use:
Few articles explore the effects of
recreational cocaine or marijuana use on semen quality and male reproductive
system, and our knowledge remains very preliminary. Cocaine use for five years
or more is a more common form of abnormality in men with low sperm motility and
low or large concentrations; whereas cocaine use was twice as frequent in the
first two years, male authors concluded that, given the high prevalence of
cocaine use in the male population, a history of cocaine use should Whan et al.
The effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta[9]-THC) on human sperm
function in vitro, showed decreased sperm motility and acrosome response.
Recently, Badawy et al. The effects of Delta[9]-THC and Delta[8]-THC on sperm
mitochondrial O2 consumption (respiration) was investigated, showing that
these compounds are potent inhibitors of human sperm mitochondrial O2
consumption. Studies have shown the potential adverse effects of recreational drugs
on male fertility, but still, more observational studies are required.
Genital Heat Stress:
Normal sperm production depends on the
optimum testes temperature kept below body temperature (usually between
34-35°C). Some experimental studies have shown that heat exposure may reduce
semen quality. A moderate increase in the temperature of the male camel (Lama
game) altered spermatogenesis and all sperm parameters, while displaying
higher destruction of tubules and lower spermatogenesis rates in histological
analysis. In humans, occupational activities that require sedentary posture
increase the temperature of the scrotum. In observational studies, individuals
involved in raising scrotal temperature activity were found to have poor sperm
morphology. Activities such as sitting
on a heated floor or leisure experience to damp-heat in hot tub or Jacuzzi can cause
damage to the semen quality. However, these effects can be reversible once exposed
to heat ends. It was found that the temperature of the scrotum of volunteers
wearing wool pants and shirts that fit the body size was significantly higher
than that of the tight-fitting and loose-fitting clothing. However, whether
elevated temperatures lead to reduced semen quality remains to be studied. in
conclusion, nocturnal scrotal cooling in infertile men with a historical record of testicular male descent and
oligospermia shows that it has a positive effect on improving semen quality
after eight weeks, suggesting that nocturnal scrotal cooling may be a treatment
option for some patients.
Psychological Stress:
The impact of male psychological stress
on semen quality is an area of great interest that requires further research,
especially on a population-based basis. At the molecular level, the mechanisms
of stress-related semen mass alterations have not been fully updated. Some
groundbreaking levels of antioxidants (glutathione and free-sulphate), as well
as motility and morphology of normal sperm reduced stress in healthy subjects, were examined. Some studies suggest that psychological stress in everyday life
has little or no effect on semen quality. Among the couples who participated in
the fertility clinic. It was found that
the correlation between psychological factors and the damaged semen quality was
weak. In men participating in the IVF procedure, the quality of semen
samples obtained on the day of egg retrieval was significantly worse than the
quality of the first sample analyzed by the same patient. The decline in semen
quality in the second sample was due to psychological stress involved in the
clinical course.
Occupational And Environmental Factors:
Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs),
such as some polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorines (pesticides) or
phthalates (PEs), several heavy metals such as lead and cadmium, and several
air pollutants [PAHs], dioxin has been shown to alter the male reproductive
system possibly due to disruption of gonad endocrine or direct damage to
spermatogenesis. Not surprisingly, occupational activities involving exposure
to certain specific chemicals and toxins are associated with infertility.
Although the literature on the effects of specific substances on semen quality
is expanding, the relationship between environmental chemical exposure and male Infertility Treatment is not always available. Some studies have
compared semen parameters and occupational exposure of male partners of
infertile couples to fertility clinics. It has been found that there is an
association between welding and semen mass reduction (sperm count and
viability). In other case-control studies, infertile men were exposed more
frequently to organic solvents and electromagnetic fields (engineering
technicians, etc). And heavy metals than
normal mental control. Studies have shown that environmental toxins alter the
integrity of sperm DNA. DNA debris may be an excellent marker for exposure to
reproductive toxicities and diagnostic tools for potential male infertility
Endocrine Disruptor Compounds:
Endocrine-disrupting compound (EDCs)
leads to testicular dysplasia syndrome (TDS) and disrupts the development of
germinal cell meiosis. Sharpe and Skakkebaek suggested that the male
reproductive system is most prone to estrogen surrogates during critical
periods of cellular differentiation and organ development in fetal and neonatal
life. Exposure to the wrong hormone or an insufficient amount of the right
hormone may affect the reproductive system, leading to fertility problems in
adulthood. In addition, due to its chemical composition, EDSA is able to cross
the blood tissue barrier in the testes, suggesting that intra-tube germ cells
may also be directly exposed.
Dietary soy foods also have estrogenic
activity and may affect semen quality. The children are extremely sensitive to
estradiol before puberty, and even when serum levels are below current
detection limits, may increase growth and/or breast development, and changes
in hormone levels during fetal and pre-pubertal development may have a serious
(potentially irreversible) effect on adult life.
Heavy Metals:
Metal exposure (particularly lead and
cadmium) has been associated with low sperm motility and density increased
morphological abnormalities and male infertility. Compared to other workers,
the metal industry employs a decline in male fertility, as shown by delayed
pregnancy and decreased semen quality. The serum and plasma concentrations of
cadmium (Cd) in 60 infertile men and 40 normal sperm subjects were analyzed.
Semen plasma Cd levels were significantly higher than the serum levels of all
subjects. A correlation between serum Cd levels and all biophysical semen
parameters except sperm volume was found to be the statistically significant
inverse.
The blood and semen lead concentration of
battery and paint factory workers were studied. Their findings included
oligospermia and an increase in the percentage of haploid sperm DNA, suggesting
a decrease in sperm cell production after occupational exposure to lead. In
addition, sperm velocity and forward progressive motility reduced a high
percentage of stationary motile spermatozoa, suggesting that sperm motility is
delayed between exposed workers. Finally, the increased incidence of
teratozoospermia is associated with high blood and semen lead levels.
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