Showing posts with label Men. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Men. Show all posts

Saturday, March 3, 2018

Is There An Age Limit To Male Fertility?



It is well known that a woman's fertility is limited by her age. A woman will eventually enter menopause, stop ovulating, and no longer have the physical ability of conception. This is somehow a defensive mechanism because a pregnant woman in her late 80s has a very low chance of surviving the pregnancy and neither would the baby!

But for men, we are told that fertility goes on and on. This is because a man produces sperm all through his life cycle, which means they are theoretically fertile until they die. There have been various cases where we've heard of men between the ages of 80-90 conceiving a child and are convincing proofs men are fertile until they die. 
However this does not mean there won't be any issues with the man and his fertility. While men stay fertile throughout their lifetime, their level of potency declines considerably with age. In the case of women, they become non-fertile immediately after menopause, while with men, fertility declines considerably year after year. Fair is fair, after all!

Older Men Have More Damaged Sperm

To clearly explain things, a man's sperm and motility will go down with age. And researchers have proven this over and over again. Back in 2004, a researcher conducted a study on older male fertility, and it was discovered that a man's chance of conception reduces by 11 percent every year because of increasing age.

Also, we should consider the high risks of genetic abnormalities in babies conceived by older men. They are more likely to have children with genetic deformities. The reason for the genetic deformity is because of the mutation that occurs with age in men's sperm and this can have adverse effects on the baby because the mutations can cause damage to the sperm.

Older men have more damaged sperm when compared to younger men who are in their twenties and thirties. Some of the diseases that could develop include Autism, schizophrenia, and many others. An Australian study presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam in 2009 found that daily ejaculation helps in reducing DNA damage in sperm for the majority of men, although oddly enough, it increased DNA damage in some. 

Having understood the above explanation, one can see that no two men are equal. Genetic buildup varies from man to man, and there are several factors such as sex life and diet that can determine a man's chances of conceiving during old age. A ninety-six-year-old man once claimed that he eats nothing but vegetables and almonds and that he has sex thrice every night. This feat achieved by the
old man would be huge, not only for someone that old, but for anyone past middle age.

Facts and Figures About Men, Age, and Fertility 
- The average time for conception if a man is under 25 is just over 4.5 months. Whereas getting pregnant over 40 averages about two years.

- If a man is over the age of 45 years, he has a five-fold increase in time to get a woman pregnant.

- For couples having IVF, the risk of not conceiving is more than five times higher if the male partner is at least 41 years old.

- The volume of a mans semen and sperm motility (the ability of sperm to move towards an egg) decrease continually between the ages of 20 and 80.

- The risk of miscarriage is twice as high for women whose male partner is over the age of 45 than for those whose partners are under 25.

- Children with fathers aged 40 or older are more than five times as likely to have an autism spectrum disorder than children whose fathers are under the age of 30.

It Is Important To Be Healthy
There are various ways to boost the fertility of men, even older ones. It is all about picking the right lifestyle and keeping stress at bay. A man should know that being healthy is important and being overweight will have a negative effect on their health. The more the waistline is, the lower the testosterone levels, because fat tends to lower the body's testosterone levels. Also, one should avoid fatty foods as much as possible. Include zinc, antioxidants, vitamins, and folate in your diet so that the sperm damage risks are significantly lowered. Another great addition to your diet is almonds because they contain lots of nutrients.

A study conducted recently in the Journal of Urology discovered that men with erctile dysfunction and cholesterol who eat a cholesterol-lowering diet regularly had their problem solved. It lowered cholesterol and improved erectile function in eight of nine people. The researcher also urged men who suspect fertility problems to get tested. They should first ensure that the issue isn't a physical one because some men have testicular or prostate cancer and don't even know it.

Men should ensure that their testes are in a cool state every day. This is because heat in this area will damage the sperm or reduce its production. To accomplish this, a man needs to wear loose clothing, such as boxers in the place of briefs, and avoid saunas and hot tubs. Also placing laptops and hot machinery on this area is dangerous, so avoid this to keep the testes cool.

Because a man has the ability to conceive a child at any age does not necessarily mean it will be an easy process for every man. A man needs to be aware of medications he takes because some might affect his fertility rate. So, check with your doctor to find out. If you are looking to have a baby, you should go for a medical checkup to ensure that there are no problems such as inflamed veins and clogged ejaculatory ducts. When you rtake care of all these, you might be luck enough to conceive when you are older!