Men with higher quality sperm can expect to live almost three years longer than those with the lowest quality, a study found. Danish researchers followed almost 80,000 people for up to 50 years in the largest study to date examining the link between semen quality and mortality. Men with a total number of motile sperm — sperm that can move or “swim” — of more than 120 million could expect to live 2.7 years longer than those with a motile sperm count of between zero and five million.
Experts said poor semen quality may be an indicator of other underlying factors that affect both fertility and overall health. Dr Niels Jørgensen, chief andrologist in the Department of Growth and Reproduction at Copenhagen University Hospital—Rigshospitalet, said: “We need to better understand the association between semen quality and men’s general health.
“However, this study suggests that we can identify subgroups of men with impaired semen quality who are apparently healthy when their semen quality is assessed, but who are at increased risk of developing certain diseases later in life.
“Thus, fertility evaluations, which are typically conducted when the men are relatively young, would serve as an opportunity for detecting and mitigating the risks of other health problems in the longer term.”
For the study, published in the journal Human Reproduction, academics analysed data from 78,284 men in Denmark between 1965 and 2015.
Dr Larke Priskorn, a senior researcher at the Copenhagen University Hospital, said: “Previous research has suggested that male infertility and lower semen quality could be associated with mortality.
“We conducted this study to test the hypothesis and at the same time get an absolute estimate of how much semen quality predicts a man’s lifespan and to understand whether diagnosed diseases prior to semen quality assessment might explain some of the reported association.”
The researchers now plan to look at whether semen quality was linked to earlier deaths from specific causes such as cancer or heart disease.
Dr Jørgensen added: “Using other groups of men, we will also try to identify relevant biomarkers that can identify subgroups of men at increased risk.
“This is key to initiating relevant prevention strategies.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
