Sperm Motility
Men’s Health Blogs Sperm Motility Hi, This is Dr. Shah, Consultant in Male Infertility & Sexual Health. In this post, I am going to tell you everything about sperm motility But, first, let us understand a little about normal sperm motility. What is normal sperm motility? Did you know, that the normal sperm motility as stated by the WHO 2010 Andrology Laboratory Guideline values is 40%. Most men fear they will never father a child when their semen analysis or sperm test report shows a sperm motility range less than 40%. This cannot be farther from the truth! Here is a saying I absolutely love, take a look below… In my long years of clinical experience as an Andrologist, I have seen over 286 men who had extremely low sperm motility, in the range of 10 to 20%. All these men were told to go in IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) because the professionals who treated them believed that getting pregnant with low sperm motility is not possible. I advised each and every one of them the exact opposite of what they were told. Yes, I agree they all suffered from poor sperm motility, but, that does not ever mean that it is not possible to improve it. With the right treatment and medications, we were able to increase sperm motility naturally for each and every one of them. Now here comes the bigger truth, Remember, I told you the WHO 2010 manual recommends a sperm motility index of 40 %? This value came from a study performed on over 3000 fertile fathers who were able to get their partners pregnant in the 1st year of marriage. The WHO study assessed data only from European men who gave a semen test. It chose to ignore India and China The big joke is how can you extend an apply sperm motility data from one geography or study population to another population of Indian men?? It’s like telling the apples and oranges are the same!…Read on…. the interesting stuff has not even begun… The sperm analysis or semen test data that we use to assess Male infertility is not even based on study findings from our Indian population!. The WHO did not include Indian men when doing their study. They simply said that the 40% normal sperm motile range as prescribed is for reference purpose only! and that every clinic or lab should come to a conclusion based on their own data and metrics! Thus, that is exactly why I strongly believe that with the right treatment it is possible to improve sperm progressive motility Okay now bearing this in mind.. let’s discuss on our second topic Dr. Shah Dupesh Consultant Andrologist & Sexologist Ready to improve your Reproductive Health? Discuss your concerns in a private setting and get personalized guidance tailored to your needs. Book a Call Book a Call What is the normal sperm motility for pregnancy? So how much motility is required for pregnancy?.. Well to be honest, all you need is one sperm to fertilize that egg at the right time. But truth be told, not all men are lucky enough for such a scenario. If that was the truth why would there be male infertility issues in the first place? In my clinical experience, what the lowest sperm motile range below which pregnancy chances seriously fall, is about 2% to 5%. Again the statement I make here is highly relative. In all my years, I was able to treat only one patient who had severely low sperm motility in the range of 1 to 5%. However, this patient also conceived naturally without any aggressive fertility based therapies. All said and done, for Indian men, motile sperm percentage of 35% or above is good for pregnancy. This is especially true, when his sperm count, shape, and semen volume is normal!. Because we have no other options, we try to use the WHO 2010 reference values. We do not swear by it, In all our treatments for male infertility, it is a combination of our data and clinical experience that help us make the right decision for each couple. There is and always be will chance of pregnancy with low sperm motility least for a few couples. But we cannot directly predict for whom pregnancies will happen. Thus to conclude this section, you must understand that there is strictly no normal sperm motility for pregnancy. For all practical purposes, we recommend a range of 30 to 40% sperm motility as normal Now let us further our understanding, about spermatozoa and its motility Sperm motility can be broadly classified as follows Sperm that are progressively motile. Sperms that are non progressively motile. Sperms that are immotile. We will discuss the significance of each type – Sperm progressive motility : A sperm is said to be a progressively motile sperm if it moves linearly from one field to the next. This kind of movement is called progressive in nature. What this in principle means is that, the sperm is able to move from one place to another place. Both the number of sperms (sperm count) and the total number of progressively moving sperm in the semen play a key role in pregnancy. The concept should be fairly easy to understand, remember only sperm that are able to move can reach and fertilize the egg!. While a lot of fuss was initially made about the speed of sperm movement, we now know for a fact that speed of sperm movement is not or no longer a clinically useful tool to predict pregnancy. As long as you have at least over 32% of progressively motile sperm in the ejaculate, things should turn out normal. However, do remember that even if you have sperm progressive motility lesser than 32%, pregnancy is still possible. It is only at very low values of 2 to 5% were the chances of pregnancy become less. Have a quick look at the image below to understand progressive sperm motility Sperm non-progressive motility : Okay, now let’s discuss sperm non-progressive motility. A sperm is said to have non-progressive sperm motility if it moves in circles, or if it simply vibrates around a
Male fertility: What’s the Big Deal?
Men’s Health Blogs Male fertility: What’s the Big Deal? Male fertility issues are rampantly rising around the globe. The WHO recently declared infertility as a public health problem. Hello and welcome! This is Dr. Shah, consultant Andrologist at Dr. Shahs Clinic for Male Infertility & Sexual Health and in today’s post, I am gonna share with you 15 points on infertility in men… first of all, I want you to quickly read the content in the image below… Infertility in men is not an easy issue to tackle. Men diagnosed with male fertility issues frequently breakdown emotionally and feel sense of worthlessness and/or failure.. Thus from a medical viewpoint it becomes imperative that these issues are handled delicately and the medical practitioner should empathize with the patient. Now keeping this in mind, lets look at a few common questions that I keep getting asked in my clinic time and again. MALE FERTILITY FAQ’s A. What are the causes of infertility in men? Surprisingly, a large number of diseases can consequently lead to Infertility in men. A few of them are as follows 1. A problem affecting brain structures like the pituitary or hypothalamus 2. Genetic problems like Klinefelter’s syndrome/chromosomal anomalies 3. Y-chromosome Micro-deletion 4. Idiopathic infertility (cause is unknown). In 30% of men we really do not know, why infertility occurs! 5. Trauma to the Testis can also damage and affect the sperm output 6. An infection that affects the testis and its ducts that transport sperm. This can block sperm transport 7. Testicular tumors can effectively destroy the testis and hence sperm production 8. A testis that has not descended into the scrotum 9. Chemotherapy/radiation for other cancers 10. The use of Certain drugs 11. Sexual problems like erectile dysfunction/pain during sex/no ejaculation 12. Other severe systemic diseases B. Are their any Male infertility Symptoms? Unfortunately, most of the time their are absolutely no symptoms of infertility in men… First of all, male fertility problems are usually the suspect only when no pregnancy has happened spontaneously for the female partner even after one year of regular unprotected sexual intercourse…. ….but, some male fertility issues could be a suspect when a man sometimes has difficulty in achieving and/or maintaining erections. Since if a man has a difficulty in performing sexual intercourse, this is suggestive of a male hormonal deficiency, …although one must rule out other associated psychological causes of the sexual problem. Hence, it would be wise to get a thorough physical examination and also get a hormonal evaluation with a medical professional at the earliest. A semen analysis is a must and is also probably the first line investigation for male fertility assessment. C. Are their physical symptoms of low sperm count or are their any signs of low sperm count? This is probably the most commonest question I get!. Unfortunately their are absolutely no physical symptoms a man would feel if he has a low sperm count. Men usually have a normal sexual life and are also most of the time completely unaware that they producing semen with low sperm counts. Most men are caught by surprise only on the day when a male fertility assessment is done. Interestingly, many men who presented to our clinic in the last couple of years have been diagnosed with AZOOSPERMIA (which means no sperm in the ejaculate). Some men with male infertility will also have extremely low sperm motility and a combination of very low sperm count These men while sadly infertile, seem to have a normal sexual life…. at-least till the time they were diagnosed with this dreaded condition!. A diagnosis of male infertility in itself sometimes can severely affect a mans sexual life Dr. Shah Dupesh Consultant Andrologist & Sexologist Ready to improve your Reproductive Health? Discuss your concerns in a private setting and get personalized guidance tailored to your needs. Book a Call Book a Call D. Is their a Male fertility test or a Male infertility test? Male fertility is best assessed with a simple semen analysis that can be done at any well certified laboratory that have trained personnel for performing the test. The semen sample is usually collected by masturbation into a sterile on toxic wide-mouthed container provided by the laboratory using a DRY HAND. The collection is preferably done in a private room within the laboratory premises. Exercise caution and stay away from ill-equipped laboratories that are not designed to do Semen Analysis!. Since over 70% of the time you could an erroneous report. A misdiagnosis is very common in this specialty. As semen analysis is a complex test that requires some degree of training and orientation. Sadly their is an absolute paucity of trained places in our country where you could get an accurate report. Feel free to drop me an mail and I will be happy to help you through. E. Male fertility test cost?. Is it expensive?. Are their other male fertility tests? A simple semen analysis can range from anywhere between Rs 200/- to Rs 1200/-. The cost usually widely varies from place to place. Other tests for male fertility assessment are listed below. HINT: Never go for an automated semen analysis estimation A. A Hormonal Workup is done usually as routinely for patients, but preferably if patients are suspected to have a hormonal deficiency B. Ultrasound scan of the testis may be able to give an accurate estimation of testis size. Interestingly, a certain degree of correlation is seen between testis size and sperm output C. Karyotyping as a test is recommended only in select groups of patients were a genetic problem is suspect, in addition to Y-chromosome micro-deletion mentioned below D. Y-chromosome micro-deletion assessment, in addition, is preferably done for all patients who present with a sperm count of of less than 5 million/ml. The normal sperm count for male fertility as per the WHO is 15 million/ml of semen E. Finally, patients can undergo a semen culture if and when the doctor suspects a urinary tract infection or if the semen shows many round cells.