Reading: Factors that Determine Healthy Sperm
Let ’ s break down sperm health in terms of both Quantity and quality :
Contents
Sperm Quantity
Sperm Count
Your sperm reckon provides the best indication of how effectively your testicles are producing sperm. The come of sperm in your semen has been shown to be directly correlated to time to pregnancy, thus your sperm count is a headline divisor in your fertility. Sperm count numbers can be a little jumble. technically, sperm consider refers to the full number of sperm cells in your semen, much measured in “ millions ( M ) ”. The way to get to that number is to multiply your sperm concentration ( measured in millions of cells per milliliter of semen, M/mL ) by the bulk ( or sum ) of semen ( measured in milliliters, milliliter ). Sperm count (M) = sperm concentration (M/mL) x semen volume (mL) however, the terms sperm count and sperm assiduity are frequently used interchangeably. So person may refer to your sperm concentration as your sperm count. That ’ south all right ( and sometimes we do it excessively ). Just make sure you know which one you ’ re talking about.
Semen Volume
Yes, the sum of your blurt out can matter. Semen volume alone has short shock on richness outcomes, however it is much used to calculate other sperm parameters ( like entire sperm count ).
Sperm Quality
now let ’ s examine the finer features of your sperm cells…
Motility
Sperm have to swim a long means to fertilize the egg. Sperm motility measures the share ( % ) of your sperm cells that can swim ( versus non-motile sperm, which could be absolutely or not moving for other reasons ). typically, about half of sperm are swimmers. Motility is a little finical : sperm can switch their naiant on or off due to environmental triggers like temperature, ph, viscosity, etc. So measure motility on a microscope slide in a lab ( when the sperm are outside of their natural habitat ) is a little like evaluating a football actor based entirely on his gymnasium exercise without watching his game film. It ’ s a immanent estimate of performance. Some andrology lab measure sperm that can swim in a straight line ( sometimes called progressive, active or grade A ). The idea is that these sperm are most the most probably to make it to the egg.
Morphology
not all sperm are created adequate. Some of them have eldritch shapes. In fact, most of them have wyrd shapes : two heads, no tails, etc. Morphology measures the share of your sperm cells with a convention shape. Why does morphology topic ? Like motion, morphology is a morsel subjective and its clinical importance is much debated. But by and large, abnormally shaped sperm will have more difficulty liquid and fertilizing an testis.
Other Factors
The factors described above are the top indicators of sperm health. Andrology lab will often look at other semen parameters to round out their analysis, including tinge, ph, viscosity, liquefaction time, sperm agglutination, and whether any non-sperm cells are visible. There are besides several other advanced lab tests that can measure your sperm ’ randomness DNA integrity, oxidative stress, epigenetic signatures, capacitation, etc. that have been shown to correlate with birthrate. The skill is moving quickly and we learn new things about sperm every sidereal day.
So What?
At the end of the day, if you ’ re trying to get pregnant the finish is to get one sperm cell to the polish note to successfully fertilize the egg. It ’ s all a numbers game : higher numbers in each of these sperm health factors helps improve the odds of that one chosen sperm making it.
hera ’ s the cool separate : most men can improve their sperm production through ache health and life style changes. We want to help. Our Trak Male Fertility Testing System was designed to allow you to not only measure your sperm production at home, but more importantly to help you take smart steps in your health and life style to optimize your sperm health and improve your chances of creation. Let ’ s Get Started !