The Low or No Sperm Count

I just learned recently that there is such a thing as no sperm count, all thanks to a recent interesting movie I saw. I thought the only thing we had was a low sperm count, but I never thought there was a possibility of having no sperm count at all.

The thing about sperm count issues is that most people would not be aware of the problem until it gets to the point where they are trying to have kids. Let's start talking about the most common one first, low sperm count.

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Oligospermia is the medical term used to describe low sperm count, a man with low sperm count will not have up to 15 million sperm per liter should be the minimum for a typical sperm.

Low sperm count can cause infertility in males, but but it doesn't mean there is a complete rule out of such a possibility.
It is most likely that there would be displayed signs or symptoms, aside from the inability to get a woman pregnant after consistent sexual intercourse without protection, but there could be signs associated with the underlying cause of the condition.

When these signs come, they are associated with low sex drive, erectile dysfunction, pain or swelling in the noticeable part of the leg, also decreased body hair and facial hair.

Genetic disorders like cystic fibrosis.
Diseases and bacterial infection can cause oligospermia, a good example is the existence of urinary tract infections and sexually transmitted infections.

It is also possible that oligospermia is affecting the patient because there is a blockage in the reproductive system that prevents sperm from going out of the body.

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Certain lifestyle habits like, body weight, excessive alcohol intake, smoking, stress, and abuse of drugs.
Heat may surprisingly be another reason why an individual may have a low sperm count.

The testicles perform well at a certain temperature, this temperature is often slightly lower than the normal body temperature. Heat-related situations can affect the production of sperm.

On the other hand, zero sperm count is medically referred to as azoospermia, in this case, there is no measurable sperm in the ejaculated semen. Naturally, testicles produce sperm, sperm then travels through parts of the reproductive system and mixes with fluids to form semen.

Semen is the fluid released by the penis during ejaculation. With azoospermia, there would be semen but no sperm. Some people are born with this condition while others pick it up as they grow.

Azoospermia comes in three different forms;

Post testicular azoospermia: This means there is a missing connection along the reproductive tract. This means, there is sperm production, but there is also a blockage that is preventing exit.
Trauma or injury, infection, inflammation, or previous surgery.
Testicular azoospermia: This indicates poor or no sperm disorder due to a disorder in the structure or function of the testicles.
Pretesticular azoospermia: In this case, the testicles and reproductive tract appear normal, but are not stimulated by sufficient hormones to produce sperm.

For these two cases, it could be caused by genetic factors, hormonal imbalance, medications that may have affected the production of sperm and others.

Some cases of azoospermia can be reversed depending on what the cause is, and for some situations, the condition cannot be reversed, it remains a permanent situation.