5 Habits that Can Reduce a Man's Fertility

Male fertility has become a contentious topic in these times. As scientific research unearths more evidence of how lifestyle and environment influence fertility in men, there are increased reminders about following habits which are beneficial for overall health – including reproductive health. Here are five most common habits that can reduce a man’s fertility, with or without him aware of the harm being done.

1. Smoking
   
   To a great extent male infertility depends upon the quality of sperm; there are several aspects determining the quality of sperm like sperm concentration or the number of sperms in a limited quantity of semen, sperm motility or the swimming capacity of the sperm, sperm viability or the condition of the sperm and sperm morphology or the shape and structure of sperm. Smoking has wide-ranging negative impact on sperm quality – men who smoke stand a chance of having lower sperm count as well as lower sperm motility as compared to non-smokers. Besides this the fact smoking is very toxic to the genetic makeup of all cells – which is evident in how it causes cancers of various kinds – is also relevant to male infertility. The toxic effect of smoking has a particularly negative effect on sperm. In men who smoke there is a higher level of genetic damage in the sperm and importantly a much higher miscarriage rate if their partners get pregnant. There is also evidence of a higher chance of childhood leukemia in children where their father has smoked. This is especially pertinent since sperm have no way of repairing any damage to their genetic material as when caused by smoking.
    
2. Excessive use of cell phones
   
   In recent times, the adverse effect of cell phones has increasingly being reported in the media, especially as it has been linked to higher risk for brain cancer. At the same time, there have also been concerns about effect of mobile phone use on male infertility. According to some experts, heightened use of mobile phones create a powerful field of electromagnetic waves which may cause direct damage to cells of the human body and that perhaps causes a decrease in sperm production. The exact process by which electromagnetic radiation damages sperm quality is still not fully understood but researchers have noted a definite link between long hours of mobile phone use and higher risk of male infertility.
    
3. Hot baths and sauna
   
   Experts in reproductive medicine point out that perhaps the reason why male testes testicles rest outside the body in the scrotum rather than in the abdomen, like the ovaries, is that the ideal temperature for sperm production is three to four degrees below normal body temperature. Any warmer will affect sperm count, slashing it by about 40 percent per one-degree rise. Thus exposure to heat can adversely affect sperm production and thus lead to male infertility. It is because of this that habits like long hot baths and lounging in the sauna for several hours can end up becoming a causative factor for male infertility. The same rise in scrotal temperature can be caused by other habits like long hours seated with the laptop or wearing of tight underclothing. All these can raise the temperature in the testes to above normal body temperature which can inhibit sperm production.
    
4. Obesity
   
   Obesity has long been linked to poor cardiovascular health and has even figured as a common cause for erectile dysfunction in men. Now it seems that it may be responsible for male infertility too. Experts are still not certain why this is so but suspect that alternations in the hormonal profiles of obese men could be an important factor for male infertility. However so much is sure that weight loss has a positive effect on the general health of men and as such reproductive health and sperm production is also likely to be positively improved in obese men who come down normal body weight levels.
    
5. Stress
   
   Stress causes severe hormonal changes in the body which can interfere with the production of healthy sperm in men. The worst part of this is that the stress itself can be caused by anxiety over infertility so that the resulting tension can worsen the problem, thus leading to a vicious circle. Apart from this stress also hampers sexual functioning among men and is known to be a major cause of impotence. So if a man is not even able to have sexual intercourse, chances of conception taking place are negated automatically. For these reasons, stress, whether caused by home-work imbalance or relationship conflict, can impair fertility in men.