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Male Infertility Advice
 Estimates state that as many as 15% of all couples in the United States have difficulty conceiving a child. In one-third of the cases of infertility, the problem is male infertility. Roughly, 6% of men between the ages of 15 and 50 suffer from male infertility.
Most cases of male infertility are the result of abnormal sperm count or low sperm quality. Although it takes only one sperm to fertilize an egg, an average ejaculation contians nearly 200 million sperm. The natural barriers in the female reproductive tract prevent all but about 40 sperm from reaching the egg. The number of sperm in an ejaculation and the degree of fertility are strongly correlated.
Decreased sperm production is the cause of about 90% of cases involving low sperm counts. Unfortunately, an about 90% of these cases, the cause of deficient sperm production can't be found. Two conditions are associated with insufficient sperm: oligospermia and azoospermia. The first refers to a low sperm count while the second is an absence of living sperm in the semen.
Sperm count as well as sperm quality has been decreasing over the last few decades. In 1940, the average sperm count was 113 million per milliliter; by 1990, the value had dropped to 66 million. Adding to this problem, the amount of semen fell almost 20%, from 3.4 milliliters to 2.75 milliliters. Taken these findings together, it tells us that per each ejaculation, men are now supplying only about 40% of the number of sperm men supplied in 1940.
The downward trend in sperm count has led to speculation that recent environmental, dietary, or lifestyle changes are interfering with a man's ability to manufacture sperm. Although the speculation is controversial, substantial evidence supports it.
Paul Ellis - Men's Health
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