Health Talk At Redeemed Camp on HWN FAN COLUMN

I was at the Redeemed Camp last week to present a seminar on ‘what to eat and why’ . It was an hour long talk with questions. Needless to say, we couldn’t get around most of the questions. I will be taking on the questions raised in the question slips that were handed to me starting sometime this week…perhaps 3 questions per day, with the hope that it addresses some issues that you may have wanted to discuss.

Today, we will discuss low sperm count. Being diagnosed with this can be a harrowing experience when you’ve got no idea where it came from and/or what you could have done differently to prevent it. Here are 5 things you wish you knew about low sperm count.

• The causes of low sperm count could be medical, environmental or due to lifestyle issues.

• Medical causes include infections like gonorrhea and chlamydia, certain drugs used for cancer and fungal infections, , undescended testes and cancer.

• Environmental causes include over-exposure to industrial chemicals, heavy metals and X-rays; over-heating the testicles by frequently using the sauna and hot tubs; prolonged bicycling.

• Lifestyle causes include alcohol use, tobacco smoking, illegal drug use, obesity and emotional stress.

• To get a woman pregnant, a man has to have at least 40 million sperm per ejaculate. People with low sperm count usually have less than this.
If you have been diagnosed with low sperm count, then do something about it. Here are some tips that could help to improve your sperm count.

• Stress has been found to contribute to infertility problems such as hormonal issues. So, prevent excessive stress and perform relaxation exercises.

Remember that infertility and life in general can be stressful, learn to relax.
• Stop smoking because smoking significantly reduces both sperm count and the movement of sperm-cells.

• Prevent overheating of the scrotum: When scrotal temperature rises (caused by tight underwear, long stays in a sauna or Jacuzzi, for example) sperm production can be impaired.

• Maintain a healthy weight: Not too under or overweight since weight influences estrogen and testosterone levels.

• Stop using drugs: Prolonged use of recreational drugs (for example, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine).

Source: Dr Oyeyemi Olusegun Adeniyi, HWN.