Effect of alcohol and smoking on semen analysis parameters

Abstract

Background: Infertility affects close to 10%–15% of all couples in reproductive age group. A myriad of life style variables including consumption of alcohol, smoking along with increased exposure to electromagnetic waves emitting from cell phones and personal computers for prolonged durations, have had a negative impact on the quality of semen in males. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 250 male patients under evaluation for infertility. Physical and macroscopic examination was carried out followed by in detail microscopic examination according to the World Health Organization 2010 guidelines. Results: Fertility scoring was done for all 250 subjects and 67.2% of cases were found to be fertile, 14.4% were subfertile, and 18.4% of cases were found to be infertile. Among the 168 fertile subjects, majority 75.6% of cases were young in the age group of 20–30 years, 85.1% of cases did not consume alcohol, and 86.3% of cases did not smoke. Among the 46 infertile subjects, majority 54.3% of cases were in the age group of 20–30 years, 84.8% of cases consumed some amount of alcohol, and 54.3% of cases had a history of tobacco smoking. Majority 64.1% of the subjects having a combination of all three lifestyle factors were found to be infertile, whereas only 2.6% of such subjects were found to be fertile. Conclusion: This study shows that the consumption of alcohol and cigarette smoking has a significant deleterious effect on the process of sperm production and male reproductive potential; therefore, counseling regarding this negative impact needs to be focused upon by all clinicians and infertility specialists while handling such cases.

Keywords

• alcohol consumption
• infertility
• lifestyle
• sperm production
• testicular function
• tobacco smoking