The Weird Thing Your Sperm Could Tell You about Your Heart

Are your slow swimmers dragging the rest of your body behind? Poor semen quality may be linked to other medical problems, finds new research from Stanford University School of Medicine.
In the study, men with the poorest health were more likely to have lower sperm counts, semen concentration, volume, and movement than those in better overall shape. These semen abnormalities were also associated with specific conditions like hypertension, heart disease, and skin disorders.
Plus, the more issues the guys had with their semen, the more likely they were to experience these medical problems.

The researchers aren’t sure why infertility may signal other health troubles, but they believe it may be a combination of hormonal, genetic, and lifestyle factors.
Take testosterone, for example: Guys with infertility often have lower levels of the hormone. That can be problematic, since low levels might actually impair heart, bone, and muscle health, says study author Michael Eisenberg, M.D, director of male reproductive medicine and surgery at Stanford.
And the same genes that spark sperm production might also serve other functions throughout your body. So a flaw that makes faulty sperm could set you up for other problems elsewhere, too. Add in lifestyle factors like inactivity and obesity—both of which can hamper fertility—and you might be left with a recipe for body-wide hurt.
Further research is needed to determine whether it’s actually the infertility causing the health problems, or the other way around. But in the meantime, take your procreation problems as a wakeup call, Dr. Eisenberg says. If you and your partner have difficulty conceiving, have your doc check out your sperm, and also have him pay attention to your parts besides your junk. Ask for a full physical.
Curled from http://www.menshealth.com