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Logo: University of Missouri Women's Health Center-Reproductive Medicine & Fertility
Text: Semen Quality in relation to Health, Lifestyle Factors, Medications, and Toxic Exposures...
It is well known that poor health and various toxic exposures can cause poor semen quality.  Changes may require up to two months to show improvements because it takes that long for sperm to be produced by the testicles. Below is a list of some of the exposures known to decrease the quality of semen.
  • Smoking and other tobacco use: one of the best links between behavior and poor semen quality is tobacco use.  Sperm motility is reduced and sperm have damage to their DNA.  For more information, see the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Factsheet Smoking and infertility.
  • Alcohol use: excess alcohol use decreases male fertility by reducing sperm numbers and the proportion of normally shaped sperm.
  • Obesity and poor diet: obesity is associated with lower semen quality, and even modest weight loss can improve semen quality in some men.  Deficiencies in vitamin E, vitamin C, selenium, zinc and folate have been linked to lower fertility in men.
  • Illicit drugs:   there is good evidence for negative effects from marijuana, anabolic steroids, and cocaine.
  • Medications: Some medications are known to reduce semen quality, including testosterone replacement drugs, antidepressants (some tricyclics, citalopram, sertaraline, phenothiazines), BPH medications (finasteride), sulfasalazine, cyclosporine, colchicine, allopurinol, some antibiotics (tetracycline, erythromycin, clotrimoxazole, chloroquine), beta-blockers (propranolol), thiazide diuretics, spironolactone, calcium channel blockers, alpha-blockers (doxazosin, terazosin, tamsulosin, alfuzosin), the antihistamine cimetidine (TAgamet), and chemotherapy drugs.
  • General health: men with general good health have better semen quality than less healthy men, and some medical conditions are know to decrease semen quality, including: diabetes, hypertention, liver or kidney failure, Crohn’s disease, and cancer.
  • Stress: stress has a known negative effect on reproduction in both men and women
  • Age: although not as critical as age in women, male fertility can decline with age.  In general, a man over 35 is twice as likely to experience infertility as a man under 30.
  • Environmental and Occupational exposures: some chemicals are known to have a negative effect on male fertility, including lead, pesticides, and various solvents.  Recent studies have shown that men in rural areas, including Columbia, MO, have significantly decreased sperm counts.
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