Low sperm count or Oligozoospermia is one of the major causes of infertility in men. It is when the number of sperm is less than 15 million sperm per millilitre or 30 million sperms per ejaculation. For pregnancy to occur only one sperm is required to penetrate & fertilize the egg.

Your chances of conceiving decreases with decreasing sperm count. Total absence of sperm in semen is known as Azoospermia.

SYMPTOMS

Though the main sign of low sperm count is the inability to conceive a child, there might not be any other obvious signs or symptoms. However, in some individuals there might be

• • Problems with sexual function – like low sex drive or difficulty maintaining an erection.
  • Pain/ swelling/ lump in the testicular area.
  • Decreased facial/ body hair/ other signs of a chromosome or hormone abnormality.

CAUSES

There might be various causes that lead to low sperm count. Some of these include:

Medical causes like –

• • Varicocele- swelling of the veins that drain the testicle
  • Infection – like epididymitis, orchitis or sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhea or HIV
  • Ejaculation problems like retrograde ejaculation or lack of ejaculation
  • Antibodies that attack sperm/ anti-sperm antibodies
  • Tumors – cancer/ non-malignant tumors that affect the male reproductive organs directly or surgery, radiation or chemotherapy to treat tumors can also affect male infertility
  • Undescended testes
  • Hormonal imbalance
  • Blockage of tubules that carry sperm at any level (i.e within the testes, epididymis, vas deferens, near ejaculatory ducts or in urethra) due to various cause like surgery, prior infections, trauma or abnormal development such as cystic fibrosis
  • Celiac disease
  • Certain medications like testosterone replacement therapy, anabolic steroid, chemotherapy drugs etc
  • Prior surgeries like inguinal hernia repair, prostate surgeries, testicular surgeries etc
    
    

Environmental causes – sperm production or function can be affected by over exposure to certain environmental causes like

• • Industrial chemicals like benzene, toluene, pesticides etc
  • Heavy metal exposure like exposure to lead
  • Radiation on X-ray
  • Elevated temperature which might lead to overheating of the testicles
    
    

Lifestyle causes – these include

• • Alcohol consumption
  • Tobacco smoking
  • Emotional stress
  • Depression
  • Obesity
    
    

TREATMENT OF LOW SPERM COUNT IN INFERTILITY

Low sperm count is treatable in most of the cases unless caused by genetic conditions. Couples with low sperm count can conceive with assisted techniques like –

• • IVF
  • ICSI (Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection)
  • Donor insemination
  • Gonadotropin medications
  • Sometimes repeated trying might lead to natural conception.
    
    

PREVENTION

• • Eating healthy diet
  • Quitting smoking/ alcohol/ illicit drugs
  • Maintaining healthy weight
  • Managing stress
  • Avoid exposure to pesticides, heavy metals or toxins
    
    

Low sperm count doesn’t mean you will never be able to father children. Your doctor might be able to treat you by addressing the cause thus helping in achieving pregnancy. For further assistance, reach out to our fertility experts at FERTILITY FOUNDATION/ SISU HOSPITAL.