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Question
01 Oct 2009
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Effect of smoking on sperm morphology
Hi there
I have a question with regards to semen analysis which came back with the following results: High sperm count, but only 3% normal sperm morphology.
I am a 38-year old female, very healthy and have never smoked in my life, but my man is a smoker :) The dr said smoking possibly played a role for the sperm morphology to be abnormal. I would like to know if my man stops smoking - how long will it take before he produces enough normal sperms?
Thank you
I have a question with regards to semen analysis which came back with the following results: High sperm count, but only 3% normal sperm morphology.
I am a 38-year old female, very healthy and have never smoked in my life, but my man is a smoker :) The dr said smoking possibly played a role for the sperm morphology to be abnormal. I would like to know if my man stops smoking - how long will it take before he produces enough normal sperms?
Thank you
Fertility expert
Dear Sincere
It is unlikely that the 3% morphology is entirely related to smoking and it is also unlikely that complete cessation of smoking will bring the morphology back to normal. However it may improve morphology slightly but I would believe that the presently accepted standard for morphology if applied in the future would show only a moderate increase in the morphology. However a new test which is now available at our centre which checks for DNA fragmentation which is a lot more accurate with the respect to the effect of smoking can be applied to determine the absolute effect of smoking on the DNA content of the sperm. This test I believe would become more and more routine in sperm analysis in patients who have specific causative factors that are identifiable.
Answered by: Dr M.I. Cassim
It is unlikely that the 3% morphology is entirely related to smoking and it is also unlikely that complete cessation of smoking will bring the morphology back to normal. However it may improve morphology slightly but I would believe that the presently accepted standard for morphology if applied in the future would show only a moderate increase in the morphology. However a new test which is now available at our centre which checks for DNA fragmentation which is a lot more accurate with the respect to the effect of smoking can be applied to determine the absolute effect of smoking on the DNA content of the sperm. This test I believe would become more and more routine in sperm analysis in patients who have specific causative factors that are identifiable.
Answered by: Dr M.I. Cassim
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