Until recently, the focus of both fertility experts and research scientists has been overwhelmingly on women’s bodies, while male reproductive health has been almost ignored.
Without wishing to sound alarmist, researchers at Monash University are pushing to dispel the myth that all men can have children well into their 60s and 70s as IVF success rates halve by the time a man turns 50 irrespective of their female partner's age.
This retrospective cohort study analysed 2425 cycles of couples with idiopathic infertility selected from a total of 24 411 IVF/ICSI cycles performed at Monash IVF in Australia between 1992 and 2017. The primary outcome was live birth and secondary outcomes were clinical pregnancy and miscarriage.
The Findings:
Analyses for age categories showed a gradual worsening of clinical outcomes with increasing male age, with a significantly worse live birth and clinical pregnancy outcomes in males aged older than 50 years compared to males younger than 40 years (P < 0.05). THE DETAIL LINK
What does this mean for me ?
While age is a reality, all is not lost. It has been identified that several lifestyle factors such as diet, obesity, physical activity, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, environmental pollutants, psychological stress and working on night shifts might modify epigenetic patterns.
Therefore there are lifestyle choices that can and do effect these epigentics (The external environment's effects upon genes). There have also been a number of pilot studies and randomised controlled trials exploring the effect of acupuncture or electro stimulation of acupuncture points, on sperm quality in men, most with favourable results. Read some detail HERE.
So gentlemen, its time to stand up and take notice. To get engaged fully with the process of baby making and the choices / decisions involved. Lifestyle choices may be that difference.
#malefertility #acupuncture #chinesemedicine #IVF # Normozoospermic #epigenetics