In Italy the birth rate is very low, due to different social, economic and cultural factors. Many couples that want to have a baby are often at an age that posits difficulties related to a gradual fertility loss, not only in the female.

As Professor Paolo Emanuele Levi-Setti, Department Director and Fertility Center Supervisor at Humanitas, explains: “There is a close relationship between fertility and lifestyle: individuals that have a perfect reproductive health may, due to wrong behaviors or the simple ignorance of the way the body works, become infertile”. Let’s see some tips to preserve fertility.

 

Risk factors for Preserving Male Fertility

Many factors can concur to make sperm quality worse, for instance an advanced age, the habit to wear too-tight underwear, exposure to high temperatures (that happens to those who go too often to saunas and steam rooms), keeping the cell in the front pocket of the trousers or the laptop constantly on the lap, being underweight or overweight, taking drugs or similar substances, smoking, sleep deprivation.

 

A healthy lifestyle

To safeguard the sperm quality and, in general, the overall health (whose status you can see in the sperm itself), you should:

  • eat healthy, limiting the consumption of processed meat, sweet beverages and caffeine
  • keep your weight under control
  • get enough sleep
  • only practice safe sex, to protect yourself from STIs
  • exercise constantly
  • avoid smoking
  • protect your testicles from heat and chemical agents.

 

What if the problem is health-related?

In some cases, fertility issues are due to health problems, such as hypothalamus and pituitary gland ailments (with consequences on the hormonal functioning), testicle issues (that make it difficult for the sperms to reach the uterus), and varicocele.

Fertility is also endangered by genetic anomalies, such as Klinefelter’s disorder, Kallmann’s syndrome, cystic fibrosis and Kartagener’s syndrome.

 

When should one go to the doctor?

If you can’t have a baby, you should go to a specialist. As Professor Levi-Setti says: “According to the World Health Organization definition, it is possible to speak of couple’s infertility after one year of unprotected intercourse without conception. It is evident that this time frame is just a reference, that has to be adjusted on the single individual and has to keep into consideration the age and other factors. However, time is a crucial variable: the earlier you discover a problem, the better will the treatment be”.