Science Biojournal-Entry 9

I would like you to know that this would be my last entry on the topic issues on sex.

Throughout the course of researching on this topic,it is certainly uncommon to face some difficulties in obtaining information. However i believe that when there's a will, there's a way!



PS:Do note that i will be researching on another topic in the next entry.

Science Biojournal-Entry 8

Picking up from the previous post, we continue with a research showing that an interesting research study from the Netherlands showed that wearing tight leather trousers and tight plastic underwear together affected sperm motility, but neither had an effect alone.

Some evidence suggests that stress reduces semen quality, probably due to hormonal changes in the body that result from stress.

The causes of stress in modern life are legion and concerns over fertility or failure to conceive are very important causes of stress. If you are concerned that you have a fertility problem, it is sensible to seek advice from your family doctor.

The chance of conception in a healthy, young couple is about 20 per cent per month, so a delay of three to six months before conceiving is not unusual. It is reasonable to request an initial assessment after six months of regular unprotected intercourse without conception. So the main point i would like to bring across to everyone is to live a healthy lifestyle! :)

Science Biojournal-Entry 7

For todays post,now that we have found out on what causes men to lose fertility, the question is:How can I preserve my fertility?

Actually many factors are involve!
A few of the common factors are to:

• Adopt a healthy lifestyle, with a balanced diet and regular exercise.
• Don't smoke or use recreational drugs.
• Don't drink alcohol, or keep alcohol consumption within recommended limits.
• Try to avoid exposure to industrial and occupational hazards by following safety procedures and wearing protective clothing when provided.
• Avoid exposure to sexually transmitted diseases by adopting safer sexual practices, such as using condoms and reducing your number of partners.

Existing evidence does not suggest that wearing boxer shorts or immersing the testicles in cold water will improve semen quality. ( To be continued...)

Science Biojournal-Entry 6

In this entry, i would like to suggest to men on what caused the quality of their sperms deprove

Today, studies has shown that even environmental factors can affect male fertility! The factors include:
• endocrine disrupters
• toxic pollutants
• sexually transmitted infections
• zinc deficiency
• alcoholism
• smoking
• anabolic steroid use
• ionising radiation.

All this factors again reminds us of the importance of keeping the environment clean!

Adding to that, endocrine disrupters are chemicals present in the environment that, by virtue of their ability to adversely affect the endocrine (hormonal) system, can cause health consequences. Several industrial pollutants can affect fertility, as can smoking and alcohol use. Some of these toxins can cause reproductive disorders, neurological disease, immune system disorders and cancer!

Science Biojournal-Entry 5

After picking from the previous entry, we found out that unlike in women, the researchers found no correlation between male aging and chromosome changes that cause Down’s syndrome and other forms of trisomies – such as Klinefelter syndrome, Turner syndrome, triple X syndrome, and XYY in offspring – that are associated with varying types and severity of infertility as well as physical and neurological abnormalities. They did conclude, however, that some older men could be at risk for fathering children with dwarfism, and that “a small fraction of men are at increased risks for transmitting multiple genetic and chromosomal defects.”

In the case of Apert syndrome, a serious disfiguring birth defect, the researchers found that the effects of advancing male age may differ among different groups of men. Apert syndrome gene mutations increased in the sperm of a second group of men recruited in the Baltimore inner city by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, while no age effects were observed in the group of men recruited in California.

Wyrobek noted that these differences in finding suggest that factors other than age may be involved, raising the possibility that socioeconomic or dietary factors or ethnic background may also be involved in how age affects the quality of human sperm.

“Since some forms of genomic damage change with age and others don’t,” he said, “overall genomic sperm quality cannot be measured by any single sperm test.”

Science Biojournal-Entry 4

Does age affect the quality of the sperms?

The answer is : YES. There you have it! But why??


Actually studies has shown that genetic quality of sperm deteriorates as men get older,increasing a man’s risk of being infertile, fathering unsuccessful pregnancies and passing along dwarfism and possibly other genetic diseases to his children.

A study led by scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the University of California, Berkeley, found a steady increase in sperm DNA fragmentation with increasing age of the study participants, along with increases in a gene mutation that causes achondroplasia, or dwarfism. The first changes were observed in men in their early reproductive years.

Earlier research by the same team indicated that male reproductive ability gradually worsens with age, as sperm counts decline and the sperm lose motility and their ability to swim in a straight line.However, in the latest study, the researchers analyzed DNA damage, chromosomal abnormalities and gene mutations in semen samples from the same subjects – 97 healthy, non-smoking LLNL employees and retirees between 22 and 80 years old – and found that sperm motility showed a high correlation with DNA fragmentation, which is associated with increased risk of infertility and a reduced probability of fathering a successful pregnancy.( To be continued...)

Science Biojournal-Entry 3

For this third entry, i have decided to explain how sperms actually move about!

In evaluating motility with sperms, they are classified as non-motile, progressively motile or non-progressively motile. A progressively motile sperm swims forward in an essentially straight line, whereas a non-progressively motile sperm swims, but with an abnormal path, such as in tight circles.( An example could be seen in the picture above)

Another term that is sometimes used is "total motility" which refers to the fraction of sperm that display any type of movement. This concept is the norm for describing human sperm motility.

When analyzing motility, it is important to know whether the semen sample has been abused in any way. Exposure to heat, cold, any kind of residue on collection equipment, or the wrong pH or osmolality of an extender can adversely affect motility. Motility is also affected by periods of sexual inactivity - males that have not ejaculated for prolonged periods often have poor motility on the first ejaculate, but much better motility for a second ejaculate collected soon thereafter.

Science Biojournal-Entry 2

For this post, i think it would be appropriate to first give an explanation on what sperms are? During the past few days, i have found out that the word is actually derived from the Greek word sperma(meaning seed) and refers to the male reproductive cells.

It consists of a head, a midpiece and a tail. The head is the nucleus with densely coiled cromatinfibres, surrounded anteriorly by an acrosome( a cap-like structure that develops over the anterior half of the sperms head), which contains enzymes used for penetrating the female egg.

The midpiece has a central filamentous core with many mitochondria spiralled around it, used for ATP production for the journey through the female cervix, uterus and uterine tubes.

The tail or "flagellum" executes the lashing movements that propel the spermatocyte, and it consists of microtubules in an extension of the cell membrane.

Science Biojournal-Entry 1

My first topic i have chosen for bio journal is issues on sex. Interesting topic huh!
For starters the question i have chosen is something many people would be really interested to know: Does age affect the quality of the sperms? Therefore during the next few post i would be researching and finding out more on this area and hopefully by then i would be able to give you an answer!