Is your sperm stressed out?
Well, if you are stressed out, your sperm is most likely as well. Stress influences our general well-being, our mood and how we react to our environment, but there are also less visible effects of stress. Some of the less visible effects of longer exposure to stress without intervention can lead to cardiovascular diseases, upper respiratory diseases such as cold and also lower sperm quality.
To determine a man’s sperm quality or fertility potential, one of the single best predictors is the determination of the number of Progressive Motile Sperm Cells (PMSCs) in a man’s sperm sample (Ref. Tomlinson et al.). PMSCs are the cells that can swim forward and up in a straight line. There is high correlation between PMSCs and the morphology and healthy DNA of the sperm cells.
The health of semen cells is crucial on the journey to a natural pregnancy. As mentioned in our previous blogs, many external factors that can influence the quality of sperm cells and stress is one of them.
The Columbian University of Public Health had made a study proving a connection between stress and semen quality. Stress was negatively influencing motility of sperm cells, as well as morphology and number of sperm cells in the ejaculate. It’s also not the first study investigating relationships between stress and sperm quality. Previously made studies in the U.S. have been able to detect associations between stressful life events and the number of motile sperm cells.
Stress is a body’s reaction to danger. In the old days, it kept mankind alive, preventing us from dangers in our environment, but long-term exposure to stress might cause serious health problems and that’s why it’s important to manage stress before it’s too late.
First of all, identify what is it that is causing your feeling of stress. It can give you a feeling of gaining the control back and it can help you to move forward. When you find out what causes stress try to think, whether there is a way you can avoid the stress. It doesn’t necessarily have to mean that you will stop the stressor and completely cut it out of your life. Sometimes, it might be necessary to completely avoid a stressful situation, but many times its small fixes that can help. Small fixes can be either getting more control over the situation or just introducing something you enjoy doing to your daily routine.
Sleep. There’s nothing like waking up rested after a good night sleep. There might be times in life, where having a good sleep seems impossible, but rest is one of the most important things for a well-functioning body. You can learn more about sleeping and effect on male fertility in our previous blog.
Say no. If you have too many things on your plate and it’s stressing you out, you need to stop. Slow down, write all your tasks down and prioritize. You can’t do everything at the same time, so you might as well do it well and one at the time.
Exercise. Exercise can help take the stress away even if you do it for only 30 minutes. You don’t need to run a marathon the first time you do something active. You can just bike around your city, go for a swim or go just for a walk – no subscription is needed for that. Exercise has also a positive influence on sperm quality, read more here.
If you feel like it’s getting out of your hands, always seek professional help before things get too serious. Stressing yourself without any help or improvement can influence the overall health and lead to serious problems with heart or reproduction.
