Genesis Fertility Clinic Blog
searching: “sperm”
December 15, 2011
Varicocele
There are lots of grey areas in reproductive medicine. Sometimes being unclear what the best treatment is makes my job interesting, and other times it makes it frustrating. One frustrating grey area is the management of varicoceles.
A varicocele is an abnormal dilatation of a vein in the scrotum that drains blood from the testicles. Varicoceles can cause pain or aching in the testicles and can effect sperm count and quality. There is little doubt that (at least large) varicoceles can impact sperm, but it is unclear whether fixing them meaningfully improves sperm counts.
Save to Delicious · Share to Facebook
August 20, 2011Early Bird Gets the Sperm
If you are a couple trying to conceive you might enjoy this YouTube video. Click here.
It was good for a few laughs.
Save to Delicious · Share to Facebook
March 13, 2011Known sperm donors
About once every week or so we get asked if we can help someone conceive with a known sperm donor. We can and we do.
The vast majority of our single women, lesbian couples, heterosexual couples use anonymous donor sperm from a sperm bank. Some people, however, want to use sperm from someone they know.
Save to Delicious · Share to Facebook
February 26, 2011Male Fertility Blog
One excellent website, written by a urologist in California, is The Turek Clinic’s site. It’s worth reading as it authoritatively discusses the emotional and medical side of male fertility problems.
At Genesis, all five of our doctors are gynecologists with additional fellowship training in infertility. We also have urologists on staff who help with complex male fertility patients.
Save to Delicious · Share to Facebook
January 30, 2011Scrotal Hyperthermia
The article I just finished is on laptop computers and scrotal hyperthermia. It is known that testicles function best at a temperature 2-4 ℃ less than core body temperature. If the testicles/scrotum are heated, sperm quantity and quality drops. In this study the effect of laptop computers on scrotal temperature was examined. They also examined whether a laptop shield and whether sitting with your legs together or apart (70°) influences scrotal temperature.
Save to Delicious · Share to Facebook
December 12, 2010Warning about fresh semen donation
Health Canada has issued a warning about fresh semen donation services that have started in Canada and around the world. The reason for the warning is that the companies providing this semen are unregulated and unaccredited. Fresh semen should NOT be used to inseminate a woman from a unknown source.
Save to Delicious · Share to Facebook
May 2, 2010Soy consumption and male fertility
If soy products contain phytoestrogens and phytoestrogens could potentially reduce sperm count in males, should males with infertility stop consuming soy products?
No. This month in “Fertility & Sterility” a comprehensive review of the world literature on soy consumption and fertility was published. Soy products are an excellent source of protein and contain isoflavones which act like estrogen and are classified as phytoestrogens (plant source estrogen). There have been a few small reports of men consuming large quantities of soy products experiencing breast development, erectile dysfunction and reduced sperm counts.
A recent, large study from Massachusetts examined the soy intake of approximately 100 men at an infertility clinic. They found that the highest soy intake category of men had an average of 41 million/mL lower sperm count than men who did not eat soy foods. They also observed that obese men were more likely to consume soy. This might be the explanation why men in Asian countries who consume large amounts of soy their whole lives have normal fertility. The thinking is that obese men (i.e. North American men) are more susceptible to the negative effects of soy on sperm count than thin men (i.e Asian). This study concludes that, for North American men, consuming large amounts of soy can reduce sperm count. It does not seem to effect motility or sperm morphology.
This Massachusetts study is interesting but contradicts the four other smaller studies looking at soy and sperm. If all the studies are assessed together, as this review article does, it seems soy has little to no meaningful effect on sperm count. That is, soy consumption might reduce sperm count marginally but not enough to have a significant effect on fertility.
More studies are needed. For now it seems soy is fine for infertile men to consume. Everything in moderation, I suppose.
Dr. Beth Taylor, MD, FRCSC
Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility
Save to Delicious · Share to Facebook
October 6, 2009Bisphenol-A and sperm
Driving to work today I was listening to CBC radio one. The host was interviewing a professor at SFU who authored a study that observed an association with high bisphenol-A (BPA) exposure in pregnancy and hyperactivity in girls at 2 years of age. BPA is used as a stabilizer in many plastics and we are exposed mostly from food (as it leeches from packaging) and drinking water (that comes through plastic pipes or from water bottles).
BPA is apparently be found in the urine of many of us (95% in a random sample according to a 2005 study), in our amniotic fluid, and breast milk. It’s everywhere and is described as the most ubiquitous environmental hormone disruptor in humans.
BPA has been linked to lots of terrible things like breast cancer, brain tumors in children, testicular cancer, etc. I think many of us have become worried about how much BPA we might be consuming since these links started to be reported in 2006. Most recently I returned by SIGG bottle when I found out the liner contains BPA. Are we over reacting? Who knows, but as a consumer I feel fairly helpless in determining what the real risk of BPA exposure is, I am losing faith in Health Canada’s ability to provide timely guidance about the risk and I am skeptical of many media reports as I believe corporations can manipulate the messages we receive about products.
What I do look to for answers is studies that come out of universities or reputable institutions. So, I did a little literature search looking as the issue of BPA exposure and sperm count. Most people are aware that over the past 60 years sperm counts have been declining. Could it be that an estrogen-mimicking compound like BPA is contributing?
There have been just over 40 studies published and all in non-humans: carp, trout, mice, rats. There does seem to be an association between exposure both as a fetus and after birth between decreased sperm count and BPA exposure. Also observed is an increase in prostate size, a decrease in testicle size, and abnormalities of the urethra. So at least in these animals BPA exposure might have a negative effect on their fertility.
It will likely take a generation and years of study for any definitive conclusions to be drawn about human male fertility and BPA exposure. Indeed it might be concluded that there is no connection. Who knows? Common sense would suggest that avoiding foreign chemicals that can mimic hormones that affect our health is probably a good idea. So, I’d suggest men (all of us really) minimize their exposure to BPA just in case… no time to wait for the definitive human study to be performed.
My 2 cents.
Dr. Beth Taylor MD, FRCSC
Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility
Save to Delicious · Share to Facebook
July 7, 2009Is daily intercourse best?
Since the Globe and Mail ran an article last weekend referencing a recent study that suggested daily ejaculation improves sperm quality I’ve been getting lots of questions from my patients.
Most infertility doctors recommend that couples have intercourse every second day to optimize fertility. This is because daily ejaculation/intercourse can reduce semen volume and sperm count. So, if you have intercourse for 3-4 days leading up to the day of egg release (ovulation), by the time ovulation occurs the count might be too low to be adequate for egg fertilization.
At the European Society for Human Reproduction (ESHRE) meeting in Amsterdam two weeks ago a study was reported that suggested men who have intercourse/ejaculate daily for seven days had less DNA damaged after the 7 days. DNA damage was measured as a percentage of DNA fragmentation (less fragmentation is good). The Australian authors of this study found that 81% of men had a lower percentage of DNA fragmentation after daily ejaculation for 7 days.
Does this mean more pregnancies? We don’t know, and further research is required but some previous studies have shown the relationship between sperm DNA fragmentation and pregnancy rates. So, it’s certainly possible.
Now, the study did find a reduction in semen volume and sperm concentration after 7 days of ejaculation which is a concern for men who have low or borderline semen volumes or sperm counts.
So, what do I recommend in light of this research? Men with normal sperm parameters should try to have intercourse daily for up to a week before the ovulation date. Those with abnormal semen volumes or sperm counts to start should continue with every second day intercourse, if appropriate. My advice is different for each couple, but these are my general guidelines.
Dr. Beth Taylor, MD, FRCSC
Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility
Save to Delicious · Share to Facebook
April 16, 2009How long can you freeze sperm?
People often ask “how long can sperm or embryos be frozen?” and “do sperm or embryos go bad if they are frozen too long?” Well, the good news is it seems that sperm and embryos can be frozen for many years without any deterioration. They are frozen in liquid nitrogen (-196 C) which is so cold that all cell processes stop – cells don’t change at this temperature.
In March of this year a healthy baby girl was born in the US using sperm that was frozen 21 years earlier. The father had frozen sperm at age 16 before undergoing chemotherapy for leukemia. His wife underwent the IVF process and, using ICSI, her eggs were fertilized with his frozen sperm. There have been other cases of prolonged sperm freezing with excellent outcomes like this one. The longest successful sperm freeze to my knowledge was 28 years.
Embryos typically don’t get the chance to be frozen for very long as couples typically don’t do IVF, freeze embryos and then wait more than a decade to use them. There have been a half-a-dozen case reports of couples who have used embryos frozen for more than a decade and the outcomes was just as good as for embryos frozen for less time.
A nice study of over 11,000 embryos frozen between 1986 and 2007 published in 2008 concluded “Cryostorage duration did not adversely affect postthaw survival or pregnancy outcome in IVF or oocyte donation patients.” Further, the children born from frozen sperm and embryos seem to be just as healthy as those that were created with IVF/ICSI and transferred fresh, not frozen, into women.
So, overall freezing sperm and embryos doesn’t seem to harm them and they can be frozen for many years. Sperm and egg freezing gives couples options for creating their families over time.
Dr. Beth Taylor, MD, FRCSC
Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility