Daily ejaculation may be the best way to improve sperm quality
Having sex everyday improves sperm quality and could boost the chances of getting pregnant, research suggests.
In a study of men with fertility problems, daily ejaculation for a week cut the amount of DNA damage seen in sperm samples.
Speaking
at a fertility conference, the Australian researcher said general
advice for couples had been to have sex every two or three days.
Early results from the trial had already shown promising results.
But 118 men have now been tested and the benefits for sperm have become clearer.
Dr
David Greening, from Sydney IVF, told delegates at the European Society
for Human Reproduction and Embryology meeting that eight in ten men
taking part showed a 12% drop in sperm DNA damage after the seven days.
Although
there was a big drop in sperm numbers from 180 million to 70 million
over the week, men were still within the normal "fertile" range.
Sperm also became more active over the seven days with a small rise in motility, he added.
Damage
The
theory is the longer sperm hang around in the testes the more likely
they are to accumulate DNA damage and the warm environment could also
make them more sluggish after a while.
Sperm come under attack by
free radicals - small reactive molecules which can damage DNA and cause
cell death - in the tube that stores and carries sperm away from the
testes.
Further work is needed to work out if daily sex for men
without fertility problems has the same benefits but Dr Greening
believes it is likely to be the case.
He warns that having daily sex for too long - say a fortnight - would probably cut sperm numbers too much.
But recommended "lots of sex daily" around the time the woman is ovulating.
He said it was best to "keep the river flowing".
As
men age they may not have as much sex as they did when they were
younger, adding to the problem of infertility, Dr Greening told
delegates.
"We are designed to breed in our youth.
"Perhaps
we have been blaming the women as couples get older but perhaps there's
a contribution from the male because we're not behaving as we should
be."
The findings may also have implications for couples
undergoing IVF as men are commonly told to abstain from sex for a couple
of days to try and boost sperm numbers.
Dr Alan Pacey, a fertility expert at the University
of Sheffield, said the finding that daily ejaculation improved the
chances of conception was interesting, but it would be wrong to apply the results to all men.
"For example, in cases where men have low sperm counts to start
with, daily ejaculations may well reduce the sperm count still further
and whilst sperm may be more healthy the reduced numbers could impede
the chance of natural conception.
"The best general advice is
that if couples are attempting to conceive naturally, intercourse every
couple of days will make sure the sperm are as healthy as possible on
each occasion.
"However, in preparation for IVF or ICSI treatment, this advice may well change in response to medical test results like DNA damage measurements."
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