Male infertility

A lot of men now have fertility issues. Male sperm quality had been decreasing for 70 years. This decrease is largely due to the exposure of men to chemicals, heat and electromagnetic waves. Both motility and morphology have been declining affecting reproductive health of men.

The common treatment for male infertility is IVF/ICSI. However, dietary, lifestyle changes can have a big impact of the quality of semen, especially when acupuncture and Chinese herbs are combined together.

Male fertility is a lot simpler when compared to female infertility. There are fewer hormones involved and therefore fewer that need to be harmonized in order for fertility to be optimal. The sperm is essentially a head and a tail. It can either have movement problems (motility) or structural problems (morphology) or there aren't enough of them.

The most common problem seen in male infertility is issues to do with motility. This is often caused by excessive heat in the body and is relatively straightforward to rectify, using a combination of dietary changes and Chinese herbs.

Like in women, the release of GnRH from the hypothalamus causes the release of FSH and LH from the pituitary gland. LH causes the release of testosterone. FSH with testosterone promotes the production and movement of the sperm. As sperm production increases, inhibin is released. Inhibin inhibits the release of FSH from the pituitary gland and GnRH from the hypothalamus thereby reducing sperm production. The production of sperm in the testes takes around 70 days.

About half a billion sperm are produced each day. Low levels of FSH and LH can reduce sperm production. Injections of both these hormones can be given to increase sperm production if testosterone levels are normal. In cases where testosterone levels are low, all these hormones can be given to induce sperm production.

The testicles are outside of a man's body to keep them a few degrees cooler for optimal sperm production. If the testicles become too warm, it will harm sperm production with the likelihood of the sperm test showing problems with motility.

Sperm are contained within seminal fluid, which is a liquid; it's therefore affected by temperature. Excessive heat in the testicles is like a platoon of soldiers trying to march through a dessert without any water. They suffer from heat exhaustion and will stumble around in a dehydrated daze.

Health tips to improve semen quality

In order to improve male infertility, you should follow these health tips:

• Don't eat any chilli
• Don't smoke
• Reduce alcohol drinking to just a few beers a week
• Go to bed early, around 10pm
• Don't exercise too much
• Eat lots of fish
• Don't over work
• Reduce red meat consumption
• Eat organic meat
• Don't put a laptop on your lap
• Don't wear tight fitting underwear
• Don't spend too much time in the sauna or sun bathing

Acupuncture for male infertility

There have been several research studies which suggest that acupuncture improves sperm quality, erectile dysfunction and sperm motility.

In this research, the acupuncture group that received acupuncture had significantly improved semen analysis. Infertile men had improves sperm quality, increases a low sperm count, increase testosterone levels, increase blood flow to the testicals and treat unexplained male infertility.

References

Cakmak, et al. (2008) Point- and frequency-specific response of the testicular artery to abdominal electroacupuncture in humans. Fertil Steril; 90: 1732–8.

Dieterle, et al. (2009) A prospective randomized placebo-controlled study of the effect of acupuncture in infertile patients with severe oligoasthenozoospermia. Fertility and Sterility; 92: 1340-3.

Gurfinkel, et al. (2003) Effects of acupuncture and moxa treatment in patients with semen abnormalities. Asian Journal of Andrology; 5: 345-8.

He, et al. (2015) Acupuncture treatment of male infertility: a systematic review. Zhonghua Nan Ke Xue, Jul;21(7):637-45.

Pei, et al. (2005) Quantitative evaluation of spermatozoa ultrastructure after acupuncture treatment for idiopathic male infertility. Fertility and Sterility; 84: 141-7.

Ren et al. (2016) Effects and mechanisms of acupuncture and moxibustion on reproductive endocrine function in male rats with partial androgen deficiency. Acupunct Med, 34:136-143 doi:10.1136/acupmed-2014-010734.

Sherman et al. (2000) Does acupuncture treatment affect sperm density in males with very low sperm count? A pilot study. Andrologia 32, 31-39.

Siterman, et al. (1997) Effect of acupuncture on sperm parameters of males suffering from sub fertility related to low sperm quality. Arch Androl, 39(2):155-61, Sep-Oct (ISSN: 0148-5016).

Siterman, et al. (2001) Does acupuncture treatment affect sperm density in males with very low sperm count? A pilot study. Andrologia, 32: 31-9.

Siterman, et al. (2009) Success of acupuncture treatment in patients with initially low sperm output is associated with a decrease in scrotal skin temperature. Asian Journal of Andrology; 11: 200-8.