Asthenozoospermia - Causes and Signs of Asthenozoospermia

There are three degrees:

• mild – at least 50% of cells remain mobile an hour after ejaculation;
• moderate form – the number of motile sperm is from 30 to 50%;
• pronounced asthenozoospermia – less than 30% remain mobile.

At any degree of the disorder, fertilization of the egg by a sperm is possible. Such a diagnosis cannot be considered an absolute cause of infertility in a couple.

Causes

Among the general causes, the genetic factor plays an important role – congenital mutations, which result in morphological defects of the flagellum, head and neck, which are the main structural elements that ensure the movement of the sperm. Also exposure to very high or low temperatures (long exposure to cold or frequent stays in a bathhouse, sauna), various toxic effects (poisoning with pesticides, drugs, excessive use of alcohol, drugs, tobacco).

Asthenozoospermia means a decrease in the activity of sperm in the ejaculate (from 10 to 40 percent) with a normal total number.

In addition, stressful situations, poor environmental conditions, a drop in immune status as a result of a general weakening of the body, autoimmune disorders, sexually transmitted diseases (gonorrhea, trichomonas infection, etc.) are also among the causes. Long-term sexual abstinence, inflammatory diseases of the male organs (for example, epididymitis), pathological changes in the prostate secretion (for example, pus in it, etc.), metabolic and endocrine disorders and oncological pathology can lead to a pathological process.

Symptoms

Most often, the disease is asymptomatic. Some patients may be bothered by premature ejaculation, weakened erection or decreased libido.

Diagnostics

To diagnose such a pathology, as well as treatment and prognosis for the restoration of the normal number of moving elements, seminal fluid is examined.

The World Health Organization has developed a classification according to which there are:

• Class "A" - progressively actively moving cells in sperm. In this pathology, active ones, which move in a straight line, make up less than 20%.
• Class "B" - sex cells are progressively weakly mobile. In the case of asthenozoospermia, the content of slowly moving sperm in the ejaculate does not exceed 30%.
• Class "C" - non-progressively mobile. Their movement is mainly pendulum-like. The number of those moving in place is within 50% and even higher.
• Class "D" - completely immobile. When there is a disease, there are 10% or more of them in the ejaculate.

Treatment

Such patients can be consulted by a urologist, venereologist, andrologist, sexologist, surgeon and even a nutritionist, it all depends on the cause that causes asthenozoospermia.

Treatment should be comprehensive and affect all links in the process. An andrologist can suggest taking hormonal agents - testosterone, human chorionic gonadotropin and their analogues, the use of immunostimulating, antibacterial and antiviral drugs. As well as surgical intervention (for example, if the patient suffers from varicocele), prostate massage, which improves blood circulation in the pelvis and its organs, physiotherapy and the fight against excess weight.

It is necessary to take into account that today there are no means that could specifically increase mobility. Therefore, if it is impossible to eliminate the problem, you can resort to in vitro fertilization.

Prevention

For prevention, it is necessary to optimize the diet: exclude fried, salty, fatty foods from the diet, eat foods that contain a lot of plant fiber. The most important role is played by the rejection of bad habits, it is necessary to take vitamins and minerals - preparations that contain selenium, zinc, polyunsaturated fatty acids, L-carnitine, vitamins C, E. It is also necessary to wear underwear that does not squeeze the penis and scrotum, normalize the rest and work regime. It is necessary to exclude stress, do various physical exercises to exclude hypodynamia.