In my clinical practice, it is abundantly clear that the management of stress plays a significant role in optimizing fertility.
There is a growing body of evidence that correlates psychological stress such as anxiety and depression to reproductive hormonal imbalance, production of subfertile sperm and poor IVF outcomes.
On a daily basis, I see this type of research confirmed but after an acupuncture session, men leave the clinic with a sense of calm. They tell me that it provides an overall sense of well-being, which is reflected in all aspects of their life from relationships to increased productivity and better sleep.
A few s?tudies linking stress to poor sperm quality…?
- Anxiety and depression lower testosterone levels and correlate with poor semen quality (Bhongade et al., 2014).
- Men who have difficulty describing their feelings present with lower sperm concentration (De Gennaro, 2003).
- Stressful life events may be associated with decreased semen quality in fertile men (Gollenberg, 2010).
- Increased levels of anxiety were associated with lower semen volume, sperm concentration and count, reduced sperm motility, and increased sperm DNA fragmentation of IVF patients (Vellani, 2013).
- Sperm concentration and motility decreased when comparing prior semen samples to samples given on egg retrieval day during IVF (Clark, 1999).
- Men with insomnia were tested to have poorer quality sperm and smaller testi size than men who sleep well (Jensen, 2012).
- Men who experienced two or more stressful life events in the past year compared with no stressful events had a lower percentage of motile sperm and a lower percentage of morphologically normal sperm. (Janevic et al., 2014)
Stress has a negative impact on all aspects of health and male fertility is no exception. It is important to find ways to manage stress. ?For more information and resources visit the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) patient stress & infertility fact sheet: http://www.asrm.org/FACTSHEET_Stress_and_Infertility/