At least 50% of fertility problems are attributed to male factor. If pregnancy isn’t happening or miscarriages are happening, get the sperm checked.  A sperm check can be done through your GP or through Fertility Associates. Advanced testing is only available through Fertility Associates or a gynecologist. It is believed that ICSI will get around the problem of a low count, or poor swimmers by injecting sperm into an egg, but unfortunately doesn’t address the underlying problem that is causing these unhealthy abnormalities. Lifestyle changes, supplements, and acupuncture can contribute to improving sperm quality which in turn will help prevent miscarriage. Fewer acupuncture studies have been done on male fertility compared to women, and I can find only two small studies to mention. But it demonstrates the ability to tweak something just enough to ‘make it happen’. In a pilot study in Tel Aviv, men that were producing no sperm received a course of acupuncture treatment that resulted in seven of the fifteen men producing enough sperm to receive IVF treatment without requiring a testicular biopsy, and two pregnancies were achieved. In the control group that received no acupuncture treatment not one man demonstrated an increase in sperm production.(Andrologia 2000 Jan;32(1)31-9). I had an uncommon experience where I treated a man with no sperm once, and the couple became pregnant straight away! In a German study involving 40 men with sperm abnormalities, acupuncture was used on 28 men twice a week for 5 weeks and compared to the men who received no treatment. 12 of these men’s sperm samples were randomly chosen and compared with the 12 samples in the control group. Following acupuncture, a significant increase in both the sperm count and of sperm without structural defects was observed (in comparison with controls). The average percentage of motility doubled and the number of healthy sperm increased fourfold.  (Fertility and Sterility. 2005;84:141-147) Miscarriage Prevention has a great page on how to increase male fertility. It is a website 0rganizes and condenses the findings of scientific studies regarding the causes and prevention of miscarriage. You do not, however, have to have experienced a miscarriage to benefit from their research. I couldn’t have it done it better so here is what they say….. Traits associated with reduced male fertility Alcohol consumption (reduces morphology and sperm count) High BMI (reduces sperm count and motility) Red meat consumption (reduces implantation and pregnancy rate) Being on a weight loss diet (reduces implantation and pregnancy rate) Smoking (reduces motility and fluid quality) Having low or average self-rated health (26.9% lower sperm count and 1.4% fewer normal sperm than high health) Traits associated with improved male fertility Cereal consumption (improves sperm count and motility) Fruit consumption (improves sperm motility) Having a BMI between 20 and 25 (improves sperm count) Folate consumption (improves sperm count, motility and morphology) Higher omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acid ratio (improves sperm count, motility and morphology)   Supplements that have shown beneficial to sperm quality Improving sperm count 2000 mg/day vitamin C (increases sperm count 129% in 2 months) 5 mg folic acid + 66 mg zinc (improves sperm count by 74%, but induces 4% increase in abnormal sperm) 4 mg/day lycopene (improves sperm count by 22 million/ml) 3 g/day L-Carnitine (increases sperm count 15%) Vitamin D (men low in vitamin D have lower sperm counts) Improving sperm motility 2 g/day L-Carnitine + Vitamin E (increases sperm motility 59%) 3 g/day L-Carnitine (increases sperm motility by 40%) 2000 mg/day Vitamin C (increases sperm motility 39% in 2 months) 4 mg/day lycopene (increases sperm motility by 25% in 3 months) 200 mg selenium + 400 IU Vitamin E Vitamin D (men low in vitamin D have lower sperm motility) Improving sperm morphology 2000 mg/day Vitamin C (improves sperm morphology 114% in 2 months) 200 mg/day pycnogenol (improves sperm morphology by 38% in 90 days) 200 mg selenium + 400 IU Vitamin E Vitamin D (men low in vitamin D have lower sperm morphology) Other beneficial supplements Myo-inositol (improves fertilization potential of sperm) Beta-carotene Co-Q10 NOTE: Combining high doses of Vitamin C and Vitamin E does not improve sperm quality and induces sperm DNA damage; protective effect is found when only one or the other is taken High BMI, alcohol, red meat and weight loss reduce sperm quality; cereal and fruits beneficial The sperm concentration was negatively influenced by body mass index (BMI) and alcohol consumption and was positively influenced by cereal consumption and the number of meals per day. The sperm motility was also negatively influenced by BMI, alcohol consumption, and smoking habit, whereas it was positively influenced by the consumption of fruits and cereals. The consumption of alcohol had a negative influence on the fertilization rate. The consumption of red meat as well as being on a weight loss diet had a negative impact on the implantation rate. In addition, the consumption of red meat and being on a weight loss diet had an effect on the pregnancy chance. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22078783 Men with high self-rated health have higher sperm count and better morphology A total of 3,457 Danish young men delivered a semen sample, had a physical examination performed, and responded to a questionnaire including a question about self-rated health. RESULT(S): After control for confounders, men with good and poor self-rated health had, respectively, 0.5 mL and 0.8 mL smaller testes size compared to men with very good self-rated health, the trend was statistically significant. Men with good and poor self-rated health had, respectively, 12.2% and 26.9% lower total sperm count compared to men with very good self-rated health and had +0.4% and 1.4% fewer morphologically normal sperms (trend statistically significant). Percentages of motile spermatozoa and semen volume were not significantly associated with self-rated health. CONCLUSION(S): We found significant associations between self-rated health and semen quality and testicular size. Given the cross-sectional study design, we cannot establish a causal relationship but argue that self-rated health may be associated with semen quality. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17588567 Men with a body mass index between 20 and 25 have the highest sperm count Serum testosterone, … Continue reading Male Fertility