Oligospermia is a term for the situation in which males experience low sperm count, this demands attention as it could result to infertility in the males, as they are not able to get a woman pregnant. That is why today, Healthvim would be discussing about the likely causes of oligospermia.
According to the WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO), normal sperm count is one that is above 15 million sperm per milliliter, anything below this is regarded as low sperm count of oligospermia. If the count is between 10-15 million sperm per milliliter such a situation is referred to as mild oligospermia, if the count is between 5 - 10 million sperm per milliliter then it is referred to as moderate oligospermia, any count less than this rate is termed as acute oligospermia.
Situations may exist when there is no sperm at all in the semen such a condition is called azoospermia, and the chances of getting a woman pregnant in this case is practically zero. Oligospermia actually reduces one's chances of getting a woman pregnant, mind you I didn't say "eliminate" but rather "reduce", this means one who suffers from oligospermia could as well get a woman pregnant but just that it would require more attempts, research has shown that several men who suffered from low sperm count were able to still become fathers,just more attempts were required, though there are still cases where fertilization might seem impossible as lots of attempts might have been made which produced no result.
Here, we would share with you some likely causes of oligospermia,so you should know the does and don't about fertility in men.
CAUSES
- Abuse of some certain drugs such as cocaine and marijuana has been reported to have led to cases of oligospermia in those who frequently abuse these drugs, so it is best to avoid them as the consequences could be very expensive.
- Also men smoke and consume alcohol in large volumes stands a greater chance of suffering from oligospermia.
- One particular side complications of most sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS,Gonorrhea,Syphilis e.t.c, is that they could make their victim infertile even after the victim have been completely free from the infection,this they do by reducing the sperm count,as lesser amount of sperms are released per milliliter.
- Over-heating of testicles, this could be achieved by wearing tight shorts or boxers inside,sitting down for long,or placing heat-releasing appliances such as laptops on one's lap, these would cause an increase in the temperature of the testicles, at birth the testes were in the abdomen of the male child, during the course of puberty,these testes then move to the scrotal sacs this happens as the testes require a not too high temperature for the production of sperm, so I guess you could tell what would happen when we by external forces and behaviors get to heat the testes, at first the produced sperm would die as they do not survive high temperature, and the production of sperm is drastically reduced as the testes are not able to function optimally in high temperature.
- Exposure to heavy metals like lead causes oligospermia, as well as other chemicals such as painting chemicals,fungicides,insecticide,pesticides e.t.c would lead to the decrease in the production of sperm by the testes.
- Being over-weight or obese has an effect on sperm production as it tends to reduce this activity.
- Depression and stress emotionally has been reported to reduce or suppress the production of testosterone which would have a direct negative effect on the production of sperm as less of it is being produced.
- Cancer as well could result to mild oligospermia.
- Some medications such as antibiotics for bacterial infection,drugs meant to regulate blood pressure as well as Beta blockers could result to mild oligospermia.
- Enlargement of veins in the scrotum tends to reduce blood flow to the testicles which would directly cause the temperature in the testicles to increase and from our previous discussion on the effects of heating the testicles, i know you could tell the results. This condition is called Varicocele and is one of the major causes of oligospermia in most men.
Hope you were enlightened, always remember that at Healthvim, your health is our pride.
#HEALTHVIM