Photo Credit: Babble

Stress has been linked to many things, particularly poor physical health.

New research reports discussed in a Reuters article explain stress may also have a negative impact on sperm quality.

On Feb. 20, Andrew Seaman discussed how research suggests stress may directly impact a man’s quality sperm production.

Historically, questions have been posed that investigate whether men become infertile as a result of stress, or whether infertility can cause stress.

Men who feel they are dealing with infertility will seek fertility treatment. Researchers theorize these men face greater stress than those who do not face fertility issues.

Researcher Tina Jensen from Rigs hospital in Copenhagen comments: “Taken together, our observations strongly suggest that (stress and anxiety) may represent a significant factor involved in male fertility,”

Andrew Seaman explains the findings from Jensen’s report:

 “They note in their report, however, that the association between stress and sperm quality was weaker in men who were not seeking fertility treatment, and who also seemed to have better sperm quality anyway.

For example, men seeking fertility treatment produced about 29 million sperm per milliliter of semen, compared to approximately 52 million sperm per milliliter produced by the men in the comparison group.”

He adds:

“Jensen said that it’s hard to tell how different the most and least stressed men were based on the study report, but agreed that the results are probably most relevant to men who are going through fertility treatment, which she said is itself very stressful.”

A number of potential reasons for male infertility exist. Whether a man is aware of these reasons can directly affect his sperm quality. WebMD lists a few potential causes for male infertility:

• Low sperm count
• Slow sperm motility (movement)
• Abnormal morphology (shape and size of sperm)
• Problems with semen

How do you think these factors interact with stress in impacting sperm quality for men?

Sources: Reuters, FOX News, WebMD