July 21st, 2016
It has been observed that the prime focus of most couple while planning a family is maternal health, which is quite understandable since mother conceives and bears the pregnancy for 9 months. In addition, various clinical studies indicates that maternal health directly affects the development and well-being of fetus. But according to the latest research, adequate health of father is equally important since 50% of the genetic material is contributed by the sperm. Most importantly, poor health can directly impact the reproductive health and fertility in males.
For instance, in a new report released by Organization of Teratology Information Services (OTIS), investigators suggested that certain environmental or occupational toxins can impair fertility and aggravate the risk of certain congenital deformities (1).
About 1/3rd of all the reported cases of infertility are caused by male issues alone. Therefore, it is very important to take all important measures to minimize the risk of complications.
 Your testicle temperature should be maintained at a slightly lower temperature than the basal body temperature. This is mainly because higher temperature can reduce the amount of sperms produced. It is very important to avoid wearing tight clothes and spending a lot of time in hot showers, saunas or electric blankets. Too much cycling can also harm your sperm production machinery due to jolts and frictions which can raise the temperature of testicles thus reducing the sperm quality (3).
 If you are consuming these drugs, speak to your doctor for the fertility evaluation and advice. This is mainly because, these compounds are known to affect male fertility include:
The most important thing is to keep yourself calm. Engaging in intercourse with the mere thought of getting your partner pregnant often makes things difficult. Therefore, speak to your doctor for fertility advice and live a healthy lifestyle.
1. Sheiner, E. K., Sheiner, E., Hammel, R. D., Potashnik, G., & Carel, R. (2003). Effect of occupational exposures on male fertility: literature review. Industrial health, 41(2), 55-62.
2. Mehrpour, O., Karrari, P., Zamani, N., Tsatsakis, A. M., & Abdollahi, M. (2014). Occupational exposure to pesticides and consequences on male semen and fertility: a review. Toxicology letters, 230(2), 146-156.
3. Maleki, B. H., Tartibian, B., & Vaamonde, D. (2014). The effects of 16 weeks of intensive cycling training on seminal oxidants and antioxidants in male road cyclists. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 24(4), 302-307.
4. Rabaca, A., Sousa, M., Alves, M. G., Oliveira, P. F., & Sá, R. (2015). Novel drug therapies for fertility preservation in men undergoing chemotherapy: clinical relevance of protector agents. Current medicinal chemistry, 22(29), 3347-3369.