Once A Day Keeps The Fertility Doctor Away
New Research Shows That Daily Sexual Intercourse Improves DNA.
Sep 5, 2008
Scientists in Sydney, Australia, conducted a study showing that men who have sex every day have better quality sperm. An initial study of 42 men with DNA damaged sperm, showed that this damage was reduced by 12% when the men ejaculated once a day.
Previous studies of male factor infertility have also shown that abstinance can damage the DNA of sperm and that men who don't have sex or who have little sex have declining fertility.
A larger study carried out in Israel involving 6,000 men found that when they abstained from sexual intercourse for two weeks, the amount of semen they produced increased, but the amount of sperm decreased. (Semen is the fluid that contains the sperm). There was also a higher concentration of sperm that were abnormally shaped.
Those men who were already suffering with a low sperm count found that their count diminished even further after only two days of abstainence from sex.
Reproductive experts theorize that this may be because the sperm has been stored in the body for a longer period of time and so begins to degrade. Think of a vegetable on a supermarket shelf. It may look good quality but if it's been there for two or three days, it won't have as much nutritional value as those vegetables that have just been picked. Likewise, sperm that has been sitting around for days does not have the same punch as fresh sperm.
In addition to reducing the chance of conception, if a poor quality sperm does make it through, it heightens the woman's risk of miscarriage and birth defects and disabilities in the baby.
Dr. Greening, who presented the study to the American Society For Reproductive Medicine, said, "I'm convinced that ejaculating more frequently, i.e. daily, improves sperm DNA damage in most men."
This advice is in conflict with the current advice from the UK's National institute For Health and Clinical Excellence, which recommends having sex once every two or three days when trying for a baby.
Health experts in Britain have had a mixed reaction to the new study because men with low sperm counts can increase their sperm count by abstaining from intercourse for a few days or weeks to 'build up' the supply of sperm.
Dr. Pacey, from the British Fertility Society, disagreed with the study findings, saying, "There is a trade off between genetic damage and quantity, so when a couple is trying to get pregnant, a wait of two or three days is advisable."
