"What can be done to improve the sperm count and slow sperm?"

Yes, as a matter of fact, there are quite a few things that can be done, and many of them are very simple.

Up to 30% of infertility issues are on the male side of the baby making equation, so how can you be assured your partner’s sperm is all it can be? Most of the same basics that apply to you also apply to your mate.

• Drinking, smoking and drugs are the enemy when it comes to fertility-yours and his. The sperm need to be able to swim with purpose, to be able to penetrate the egg, and need to be properly shaped to do so. Imagine a stoned or drunk sperm…just not all that motivated to do its job. (Not the sperm are literally stoned, but you get the analogy). Sperm should look sort of like a tadpole…oval head with a long whip like tail that makes it “swim”. Drugs (including marijuana) and alcohol can affect the shape of the head and or the tail, making it difficult for the sperm to “swim”, and penetrate the egg. Tobacco, (smoking or chewing), is actually one of the more lethal enemies of sperm. One study published in the journal Fertility and Sterility showed an 800% increase in sperm production in men who stopped smoking. 800%. Seriously. (And may I remind you that second-hand smoke can also affect female fertility-a double whammy). See my post on the effects of marijuana, drinking, and drugs.

• Vitamins C, E, selenium and zinc all play important roles in sperm count, shape and mobility. Eating more vegetables and fruits will help tremendously, a multivitamin each day, or individual supplements of these can help if a perfectly balanced diet is not exactly your man’s eating style.

• Sperm don’t like hot and cramped quarters…(that’s why the testicles hang down in the scrotum, away from the direct heat of the body). So, keep your man out of hot tubs, saunas, and out of tighty-whitey under ware: buy him some nice boxers. Cycling for more than 30 minutes at a time (and in tight biking shorts) can adversely affect sperm production, and damage the nerves in the scrotum.

• The link between male fertility and stress is just coming under study, but there is a growing body of evidence that suggests a strong correlation. So what ever takes the stress off him, let him do it, (unless, of course, it’s smoking weed).

• And exposure to toxins, either in the work place, but more commonly in drinking water, can adversely affect sperm. A recent study of men in Minnesota and Missouri found a dramatic decrease their fertility, and researcher Shanna Swan linked it to the high levels of alachlor and atrazine (weed killers), and diazinon (an insecticide) found in their drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency already has alachlor, the most widely used weed killer, on its watch list, due to reproductive irregularities in male frogs which have been exposed to the chemical. You should both drink filtered water whenever possible.

- Lee

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