Lifestyle and many elements of daily life play a key role in fertility.
Sleep is an essential part of our lifestyle that is important for maintaining good reproductive health. The poor quality of sleep, as well as its insufficient duration, leads to impaired quality of seminal fluid.
Ejaculate volume has been found to be lower with sleep deprivation, as well as with some other co-factors such as smoking and obesity.
Poor sleep quality leads to a decrease in sperm motility, as well as to their lower concentration in the composition of the seminal fluid.
This is related to the levels of melatonin – the sleep hormone in the body, which are important for the number of sperm and the oxidative damage that can occur in them and lead to damage to the hereditary information.
Sleep apnea is associated with conditions such as erectile dysfunction and disorders in the secretion of the male sex hormone – testosterone.
Stress is another key factor that affects the secretion of many hormones. This can lead to disorders in reproductive health and lower the quality of semen. For example, increased concentrations of glucocorticoids lead to decreased testosterone secretion, which impairs spermatogenesis. This leads to oxidative stress and worsening insulin resistance. All these factors contribute to maintaining the inflammatory processes in the body, which lower the quality of the seminal fluid.
Stress causes dysregulation of the functions of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, which leads to an increase in inflammatory processes in the body. In addition, it disrupts glucose metabolism and insulin secretion.
Environmental pollution has direct implications for reproductive health. Certain substances such as phthalates, arsenic, bisphenol A, parabens, and heavy metals have a negative effect on fertility. They are distributed everywhere in the environment and their avoidance is difficult to implement.
Another factor is the exposure of the testicles to elevated temperature. This occurs during long vehicle journeys, sauna use, wearing tight underwear, or a sedentary lifestyle.