Lifestyle causes of male infertility

Abstract

ObjectiveTo examine the potential effects of lifestyle factors on male reproductive health. Evidence of a global decline in human sperm quality over recent decades has been accumulating. Environmental, occupational, and modifiable lifestyle factors may contribute to this decline. This review focuses on key lifestyle factors that are associated with male infertility such as smoking cigarettes, alcohol intake, use of illicit drugs, obesity, psychological stress, advanced paternal age, dietary practices, and coffee consumption. Other factors such as testicular heat stress, intense cycling training, lack of sleep and exposure to electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone use are briefly discussed.Materials and methodA comprehensive literature search was performed to identify and synthesise all relevant information, mainly from within the last decade, on the major lifestyle factors associated with male infertility and semen quality. Database searches were limited to reports published in English only. A manual search of bibliographies of the reports retrieved was conducted to identify additional relevant articles.ResultsIn all, 1012 articles were identified from the database search and after reviewing the titles and abstract of the reports, 104 articles met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 30 reports were excluded as the full-text could not be retrieved and the abstract did not have relevant data. The remaining 74 reports were reviewed for data on association between a particular lifestyle factor and male infertility and were included in the present review.ConclusionThe major lifestyle factors discussed in the present review are amongst the multiple potential risk factors that could impair male fertility. However, their negative impact may well be mostly overcome by behaviour modification and better lifestyle choices. Greater awareness and recognition of the possible impact of these lifestyle factors are important amongst couples seeking conception.

Changes in seminal parameters among Brazilian men between 1995 and 2018

“…The possible causes for the fall in some seminal quality parameters are a matter of debate. Smoking 24 , alcohol abuse 25 , lifestyle, excessive coffee consumption 9 , and even the use of mobile phones with radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation emission 26 are cited as possible culprits of the deterioration of semen quality in recent years. Environmental agents such as air and water pollutants could also act as "endocrine disruptors".…”

“…In Brazil, some authors have also published data on declining concentrations and percentage of morphologically normal sperm 7,8 . Possible reasons for these changes in seminal parameters may be related to lifestyle, habits, age, alcohol or tobacco consumption, as well as endocrine factors, obesity, diet, and coffee consumption 9 .…”

Substance Abuse and Male Hypogonadism

“…Factors that could contribute to the worsening of testicular function in Western countries include the progressive increase in visceral adiposity among the population, changes in lifestyle and behaviors, environmental pollution and exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds (i.e., phthalates) [5]. Among unhealthy behaviors, alcohol abuse, cigarette smoking, excessive caffeine intake, illicit drug intake, opioid consumption, and inappropriate use of anabolic steroids have been studied as a possible cause of reduced sperm production and/or reduced testosterone levels in hypogonadal men [6].…”

Lifestyle and Occupation patterns with poor semen quality: A cross sectional analysis

“…Therefore, it is suggested that loose tting underwear is advantageable for high quality sperm parameters. Elevated temperatures in the scrotum lead to oxidative stress, and sperm DNA damage [24].…”

“…Psychological stress is associated with abnormal semen parameters affecting male infertility. Stress activates the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis [24] and has an inhibitory effect on the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonandal (HPG) axis. The inhibition of the HPG axis reduces luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone pulsing, thus reducing spermatogenesis and sperm quality [39,40].…”