My work is all about happy birthdays and I’ve noticed they seem to come along in clusters. Could seasons really affect male fertility?
I wonder if it’s the long, dark evenings snuggled up together by the fire. Imagine our cave-dwelling ancestors in drowsy, sensual semi-hibernation, enjoying close encounters among the furs. Did our farming grandparents continue this pattern in quiet wintertime? Life on the farm got busier as the year progressed into Spring lambing and calving, crops growing. It culminated in the frantic flurry of Harvest in late summer and early autumn.
Do seasons affect male fertility?
Here in Ireland we get extremely long gloomy winters followed by grey, murky springs. Equal length days and nights only start from the Spring Solstice from March 21st.
With a 70-day sperm production time, could it be men are most fertile during the winter time? Are male fertility seasonal fluctuations hard-wired in?
Help on this pressing matter was at hand. My old friend, Dr.Eliahu Levitus, from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel, published study results in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. His team found that sperm are healthiest in winter and early spring.
A numbers game
Results from over 6,000 men, treated for infertility, showed sperm in greater numbers, with faster swimming speeds and fewer abnormalities in semen made during winter months. Researchers also noticed a steady decline in numbers, swim-ability and quality of sperm, as spring progresses.
Dr. Levitas and his colleagues collected and analyzed 6,455 semen samples.
4,960 were found to have normal sperm production and 1,495 had abnormal production, such as low sperm counts. (The World Health Organization defines anything over 15 million sperm per milliliter of semen as a normal sperm count.)
Bearing in mind that it takes around 70 days for the testes to produce a sperm, researchers found men with normal sperm production had healthiest, strongest sperm in wintertime, which would increase conception chances for couples trying to conceive.
‘Seasonal variations in male fertility may be of paramount importance, especially for couples with male factor infertility struggling with fertility treatments,” says Dr. Levitus.
Sofa Time
Electric light and factory working in the Industrial Revolution changed work and activity patterns, seasonal variations got lost. Our bodies are hard-wired for seasonal fluctuation. These study results underline the importance of keeping fertility in mind throughout the year. You can support developing sperm by minding your man’s health with good food and pre-conceive supplements, light and sunshine, exercise, plenty of sex and some well-deserved downtime!
Every day you can prepare for a happy birthday so get started today.
