5 Solutions for Male Infertility
Infertility is defined as inability to achieve or maintain a successful pregnancy after one full year of unprotected intercourse.
Male factor infertility accounts for up to 40% of infertility issues for couples diagnosed with infertility.
Male infertility is often relatively easy to resolve with the primary exception being mumps-related aspermia (lack of sperm production).
From start to finish, sperm take 72 days to develop, so 3 months of consistent treatment with diet, herbs, supplements and possibly acupuncture to improve sperm count, sperm motility and sperm morphology is essential for success.
The following are 5 natural remedies for male infertility that have good supporting research for their use: L-carnitine and acetyl-l-carnitine: These are necessary for normal sperm cell function.
Studies have shown that they normalize sperm motility in men with low sperm quality.
CoEnzyme Q10: CoQ10 is a powerful antioxidant that is found in abundance in seafood and organ meats such as heart.
CoQ10 levels in the body decline with age.
CoQ10 has been shown to increase sperm motility because it helps the mitochondria (the powerhouse of every cell in the body) to function better.
Omega 3 fatty acids (Omega 3's, DHA, EPA or EFA's): Research in mice has demonstrated that DHA deficiency (one of the two essential fatty acids required by humans) caused the arrest of spermiogenesis (sperm production) and male infertility, both of which were reversed by dietary DHA.
Antioxidants: Antioxidants help protect sperm from free radical damage or oxidative stress.
Think of what happens when you bite into an apple and then leave it.
The browning that you see is oxidation.
That process can damage DNA.
Defective DNA contributes to inability to conceive and/or increased risk of miscarriage and/or birth of a child with birth defects.
Mucuna pruriens: Mucuna pruriens is an Ayurvedic herb that has been studied in treatment of male infertility.
Studies show that treatment with M.
pruriens significantly inhibits lipid peroxidation (peroxidation is bad), elevated spermatogenesis (increased sperm count), and improved sperm motility.
Treatment also recovered the levels of total lipids, triglycerides, cholesterol, phospholipids, and vitamin A, C, and E and corrected fructose in seminal plasma of infertile men.
The use of IVF and ICSI can be used to overcome male factor infertility, however one has to question the wisdom of fertilizing an egg with sperm that is at best less than optimal and at worst defective given that half of the DNA that will make up the new baby comes from that defective sperm.
It seems particularly unnecessary to force a pregnancy with unhealthy sperm when sperm quality can be so effectively improved with 3 months of consistent naturopathic treatment.
Male factor infertility accounts for up to 40% of infertility issues for couples diagnosed with infertility.
Male infertility is often relatively easy to resolve with the primary exception being mumps-related aspermia (lack of sperm production).
From start to finish, sperm take 72 days to develop, so 3 months of consistent treatment with diet, herbs, supplements and possibly acupuncture to improve sperm count, sperm motility and sperm morphology is essential for success.
The following are 5 natural remedies for male infertility that have good supporting research for their use: L-carnitine and acetyl-l-carnitine: These are necessary for normal sperm cell function.
Studies have shown that they normalize sperm motility in men with low sperm quality.
CoEnzyme Q10: CoQ10 is a powerful antioxidant that is found in abundance in seafood and organ meats such as heart.
CoQ10 levels in the body decline with age.
CoQ10 has been shown to increase sperm motility because it helps the mitochondria (the powerhouse of every cell in the body) to function better.
Omega 3 fatty acids (Omega 3's, DHA, EPA or EFA's): Research in mice has demonstrated that DHA deficiency (one of the two essential fatty acids required by humans) caused the arrest of spermiogenesis (sperm production) and male infertility, both of which were reversed by dietary DHA.
Antioxidants: Antioxidants help protect sperm from free radical damage or oxidative stress.
Think of what happens when you bite into an apple and then leave it.
The browning that you see is oxidation.
That process can damage DNA.
Defective DNA contributes to inability to conceive and/or increased risk of miscarriage and/or birth of a child with birth defects.
Mucuna pruriens: Mucuna pruriens is an Ayurvedic herb that has been studied in treatment of male infertility.
Studies show that treatment with M.
pruriens significantly inhibits lipid peroxidation (peroxidation is bad), elevated spermatogenesis (increased sperm count), and improved sperm motility.
Treatment also recovered the levels of total lipids, triglycerides, cholesterol, phospholipids, and vitamin A, C, and E and corrected fructose in seminal plasma of infertile men.
The use of IVF and ICSI can be used to overcome male factor infertility, however one has to question the wisdom of fertilizing an egg with sperm that is at best less than optimal and at worst defective given that half of the DNA that will make up the new baby comes from that defective sperm.
It seems particularly unnecessary to force a pregnancy with unhealthy sperm when sperm quality can be so effectively improved with 3 months of consistent naturopathic treatment.