cryptospermia and cryptozoospermia natural treatment

When sperm have mobility problems, the diagnosis is asthenozoospermia or asthenospermia. This is an alteration in semen that is colloquially known as slow or lazy sperm. The experts at the Center for Phytotherapy (Mes Plantes) provide you with a natural treatment to permanently cure asthenospermia. Click on the image below to discover this natural treatment.

Definition and diagnosis

To analyze semen, a spermogram is used to observe the movement of sperm. During a sperm analysis, a drop of semen is placed in a counting cell and the movements of around 100 sperm are observed under a microscope.

The percentage of spermatozoa is determined:

• With progressive mobility
• They move fast or slow
• Non-progressive mobility
• They present a movement but stay put
• Motionless
• They absolutely do not move

The diagnosis of asthenozoospermia is made when there is a high amount of immobile sperm or slow, non-progressive sperm in the semen sample.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the reference values ​​that mark normal mobility or motility of sperm are as follows:

• Values ​​equal to or greater than 40% motile sperm (progressive and non-progressive)
• Values ​​greater than 32% of sperm with progressive mobility, i.e. able to move and cover a certain distance
• Values ​​below these references are considered abnormal and are the cause of asthenozoospermia or asthenospermia.

Repeat the spermogram

It is crucial to repeat the semen analysis before making a definitive diagnosis of asthenozoospermia in a patient. Diagnosing asthenozoospermia or any other diagnosis of sperm with a single sperm test is a mistake, since it may be due to an external or environmental factor, or a temporary circumstance of the patient.

This is why it is essential to repeat the spermogram to confirm the diagnosis. In addition, the time between semen analyzes should be reasonable in order to ensure that the influencing external factor has disappeared.

Degrees of asthenospermia: severe and moderate

Depending on the exact percentage of immobile sperm observed in the analyzed semen sample, this is referred to as more or less severe asthenospermia. In general, there are two degrees of severity:

Severe or marked

This is the case when the percentage of sperm with little or no mobility is very high. Although there is no definite value, we can speak of severe asthenospermia when the percentage of immobile sperm is close to or greater than 75-80%.

It is important to stress that it is not only the total motility, it is also the type of mobility that is taken into account because if few sperm have progressive and rapid mobility, we will also speak of severe asthenozoospermia.

Moderate or mild

This degree means that the percentage of sperm that are immobile or with poor mobility is between 60 and 75%. As in the previous case, the type of movement is fundamental, because if they move little but the movement is rectilinear and allows progression, the asthenospermia will be mild.

Thus, the degree of severity of asthenospermia is not completely defined by the percentage of motile sperm. It will take into account the shape and speed of the movement, as well as the quantity of immobile sperm.

Causes
There are no precisely defined causes to explain asthenozoospermia. However, we know that different factors can affect the mobility of sperm:

• Presence of sperm antibodies
• Excessive use of alcohol, tobacco, marihuana and other drugs
• Age (a significant decrease in mobility was observed from 45 years old)
• Fever
• Exposure to toxic agents such as fertilizers, chemical solvents, etc.
• Infections that affect semen
• Bad nutrition
• Prolonged exposure to heat
• Testicular problems
• Oncological treatment such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy
• Varicocele

The presence of other sperm alterations such as teratozoospermia or oligospermia can lead to asthenozoospermia. Ultimately, all of them are related to poor sperm quality.

Teratozoospermia relates to the shape or morphology of sperm and oligospermia relates to the low concentration of sperm in semen.

Treatment
To treat slow sperm, two solutions are possible to improve their mobility, which may even suggest a solution for mild asthenospermia:

Natural treatment
It is recommended that you lead a healthy lifestyle and avoid the consumption of toxic substances that can affect the general quality of semen, including sperm mobility. In mild asthenospermia, this can make a big difference.

Medical treatment
Some medicines to improve seminal quality can help reduce problems with sperm mobility. However, they will only be effective for mild cases of male infertility.
Severe asthenozoospermia is difficult to treat.

Consequences for fertility
Asthenozoospermia is a cause of infertility because, in order to achieve a natural pregnancy, sperm have to travel a long and difficult path from the vagina where they are deposited after ejaculation to the fallopian tubes where the ovum is located. waiting to be fertilized.

In the female reproductive system, sperm encounter several obstacles and only the fittest and fastest will be able to overcome them and reach the goal first.

This is why the gradual movement and speed of the sperm is so important to getting pregnant naturally.

When the sperm do not move or do so inappropriately (without progression), natural fertilization becomes very difficult. It is in such cases that medically assisted procreation is required.

Asthenospermia and chances of pregnancy

When a man has asthenozoospermia responsible for the infertility of the couple, ART techniques should be used.

The treatment indicated in this case is in vitro fertilization (IVF). Artificial insemination is not recommended because of the poor mobility of sperm.

IVF can be conventional or ICSI (intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection):

In the most serious cases, ICSI is required. It is not necessary for the sperm to move, because it is the embryologist himself who introduces it inside the egg.
If asthenozoospermia is moderate, conventional IVF, which is simpler and more physiological than ICSI, may be sufficient for the sperm to fertilize the egg on its own.
If neither of these two techniques works, it will be necessary to resort to a sperm donation. Sperm donation is the way to achieve fertilization when semen quality is poor.

Cryptozoospermia or cryptospermia is a serious alteration in the concentration of sperm and therefore a cause of male infertility. For a man's sperm to be of good quality, it is necessary that he has an adequate number of spermatozoa, with progressive mobility and good morphology. Men with cryptospermia have a minimal concentration of sperm, which makes natural pregnancy almost impossible. However, the African Phytotherapy Center (Mes Plantes) has a natural treatment based on medicinal plants to permanently cure Cryptozoospermia. Click on the image below to discover this natural treatment.

Definition

Cryptozoospermia is defined as a very low amount of sperm in ejaculated semen. In fact, sometimes it is confused with azoospermia, that is, the complete absence of sperm.

Specifically, a man is said to have cryptozoospermia when his sperm concentration is less than 100,000 sperm per milliliter.

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that for a man to have a normal sperm concentration, it must be equal to or greater than 15 million sperm per milliliter.

Cryptozoospermia is a very rare variant of oligozoospermia, which refers to a low concentration of sperm between 100,000 and 15 million sperm per milliliter. In other words, cryptospermia is a severe case of oligospermia because the sperm count is severely compromised.

To obtain a natural pregnancy, in addition to the concentration, it is necessary that the ejaculate has other parameters of good quality, such as mobility and morphology. If this was not the case either, the sperm would also be diagnosed with alterations in asthenozoospermia and teratozoospermia, respectively.

However, in cryptozoospermia, because there are so few sperm in the ejaculate, it is not possible to assess the number of sperm that are moving well or have a normal shape.

Diagnostic

In order to analyze the seminal quality of a man, the most important test in the andrology laboratory is the seminogram, by means of which a macroscopic and microscopic study of ejaculated sperm is carried out. If there is an alteration in seminal parameters, the doctor may indicate other tests, such as a hormonal analysis, a physical exam, and even an ultrasound, to provide more information and help find the cause of the. infertility.

Sperm count

To assess sperm concentration, it is necessary to observe the seminal sample under a microscope using a counting chamber. This is a support with a grid that facilitates the counting of sperm.

There are two main types of chambers for counting sperm:

Makler's room
It measures the amount in the order of millions of sperm per milliliter, so in case of cryptozoospermia, it does not make sense to use it.
Neubauer's room
It makes it possible to measure with precision values ​​of the order of 10,000 spermatozoa per milliliter.
In the case of a man with cryptozoospermia, it is possible not to find sperm by placing a drop of ejaculate under the microscope or to observe very little.

If this happens, the sperm is concentrated by centrifugation to remove seminal plasma and sperm left at the bottom of the tube (this is called the precipitate). The sample is then taken directly from the bottom of the tube and examined again under the microscope.

About 30% of seminal samples that are initially diagnosed with azoospermia present with sperm after concentration with this technique.

Hormonal analysis

There are two hormones that have a great influence on male fertility. It is therefore interesting to measure its value to find out whether there is proper functioning of spermatogenesis (formation of spermatozoa) in the testes or, on the other hand if there is a modification.

These hormones are FSH, secreted by the pituitary gland to regulate sperm production, and inhibin B, secreted by the testes when sperm are formed.

The values ​​of these hormones can be interpreted as follows:

Normal values ​​of FSH and inhibin B
This means that there are no problems with the formation of sperm and therefore cryptospermia is obstructive.
High FSH and low inhibin B
spermatogenesis are compromised due to a testicular problem. This would be the case with secretory cryptozoospermia.
Low FSH inhibin B
the alteration in sperm production is located in the pituitary gland. It is also a secretory cryptozoospermia.
Depending on the type of cryptozoospermia, it will be necessary to apply one treatment or another to try to increase the number of sperm in the ejaculated semen.

The causes

It is a little difficult to know exactly what causes cryptozoospermia because in most cases a man does not know he has it until the time he is trying to have children.

However, we will break down the different possible causes as follows:

Pre-testicular causes
these are the ones that affect the hormonal regulation of spermatogenesis. For example, diseases such as hypogonadism or unhealthy lifestyle habits (tobacco, alcohol, toxic products for the environment, etc.).
Testicular causes
these are the ones that directly affect the testis, such as cryptorchidism, hydrocele, genital trauma, or varicocele, among others.
Post-testicular causes
they are responsible for obstructive cryptozoospermia because they prevent sperm from coming out. This is the obstruction of the vas deferens, their absence, vasectomy, or inflammation of the urethra.

Depending on the severity of these causes, humans can suffer from oligozoospermia, cryptozoospermia or azoospermia.

Treatment

The possible solutions to cure cryptozoospermia will first depend on the specific cause that is causing it.

First, if a hormonal disorder affecting sperm production is diagnosed, hormone therapy may be applied to stimulate the testes. On the other hand, if the man has a testicular pathology such as varicocele, it is very likely that fertility will be restored after surgery. Natural treatments have a great effect on a cryptozoospermia situation. However, men with sperm quality issues are still advised to maintain a healthy lifestyle, eat foods rich in antioxidant vitamins, etc. Andean maca is a typical Peruvian spinal bulb used as a natural treatment for infertile men due to its multiple properties. However, its effectiveness is proven and allows men with cryptozoospermia to achieve a natural pregnancy.

Cryptozoospermia and natural pregnancy?

Men with cryptozoospermia who have been trying for a while to have a baby will have a hard time doing this naturally with their partner due to the critical sperm concentration. However, as long as there is live sperm in the semen, it is possible to get there even though it is very unlikely.

For couples who wish to have a child in this situation, it is preferable to resort to assisted reproduction. More precisely, the technique of in vitro fertilization (IVF) with an intracytoplasmic injection of sperm, better known under the name of ICSI, would be the most appropriate treatment.

With ICSI, the number of viable sperm needed should be equal to or greater than the number of eggs obtained during the puncture. However, it is preferable to have a little more sperm in order to select the ones with the best morphology and mobility before the micro-injection.

One problem that can occur with ICSI during treatment is that the sperm supplied has degraded and there are no sperm present at that precise moment.

In this case, there are two possible solutions for the couple to choose:

Vitrify the eggs
In order not to lose the stimulation cycle performed by the woman during IVF, her eggs are cryopreserved until it is possible to obtain the sperm.
Biopsy or testicular puncture
Sperm are taken directly from the testis using a testicular biopsy, called TESE (Testicular Sperm Extraction)
To avoid this, it is recommended that men with cryptozoospermia freeze several semen samples before starting IVF treatment. In this way, it will be possible to resort to frozen sperm if it is impossible to obtain it fresh on the day of the follicular puncture.

In all cases, ICSI is the reproductive technique of choice for patients with cryptozoospermia.