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Oligospermia (originally oligozoospermia) refers to semen with a low concentration of sperm (‘sperm count’). There has been interest in replacing the descriptive terms used in semen analysis with more quantitative information. A low sperm count can be due to many different causes, and this condition may be temporary or permanent.
Oligospermia – or low sperm count – is indicated in simple tests that reveal the concentration of sperm in a given sample quantity. Sperm count can, of course, be impacted by diet, frequency of intercourse, habits like smoking and drinking, and general health and wellness issues.
Low sperm count (oligospermia) is one cause of male infertility. Although it takes only a single sperm to fertilize an egg (ovum), the odds of a single sperm reaching the egg are very low. For this reason, having a low sperm count decreases your chance of getting your partner pregnant.
The lower your sperm count, the more likely you’ll have trouble fathering a child. But treatments for male infertility related to low sperm count can help. Urologists are skilled in evaluating men with fertility problems and can recommend treatment.
In addition to evaluating and treating male fertility problems such as low sperm count, your doctor may also suggest treating your female partner to increase her fertility. This can help compensate for male infertility. If other treatments aren’t effective, artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization can be used to produce a pregnancy when low sperm count is a factor.
What is Considered Normal Sperm Count?
Twenty million or more sperm per milliliter of semen is considered a normal sperm count, with at least 60 percent of those sperm having normal shape and motility.
Although men with sperm counts lower than 20 million have fathered children, and some men with relatively high sperm counts have not, these cases are considered exceptions to the rule. A semen analysis can determine sperm count and also check for abnormalities with their movement and shape.
Low sperm count can be caused by innumerable, and sometimes unexplainable, factors; there are generally no predictable signs of low sperm count other than infertility. The causes of low sperm count include, but are not limited to, the following : –
Diagnosis of oligospermia may be done with a semen analysis in a fertility clinic. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) on sperm cells is indicated for men with oligozoospermia, since approximately 50% of oligozoospermic men have an increased rate of sperm chromosome abnormalities. The analysis of chromosomes 21, X, and Y is enough to identify oligozoospermic individuals at risk.
A medical test can help indicate the causes of a oligospermia and sperm count problems. These causes include varicoceles (a varicocele is a varicose vein in the cord that connects to the testicle. Varicoceles are found in 15% to 20% of all men and in 25% to 40% of infertile men), exposure to chemicals or radiation, congenital testicular abnormalities, and age (though this is more of a factor in fertility issues among women).However, men have a biological clock as well and fertilization rates decrease among men over 40 years of age.
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