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Old Sperm Die Hard
Does Age Affect Sperm Quality?
By Carma Haley Shoemaker
Decreased Motility: Sperm that has not matured will not have the adequate motility to reach and penetrate the egg. In addition, with age comes a decreased ability to have strong ejaculations, thus, decreasing the distance that the sperm will travel upon ejaculation.
Decreased Strength: Immature sperm will not have the needed strength to travel the distance to the egg, nor the needed strength to penetrate the membrane for fertilization.
Decreased Potency: The force of the ejaculatory squirt in young men is often powerful and can eject the sperm some distance. The force of the squirt, propelled by the powerful contraction of the bulbocavernosus muscles, is much less in older men than in younger men. Thus, in every measurable way male potency is clearly affected by age.
Altered Genetic Make-Up: As men age, sperm cells can accumulate mutations that are passed to offspring. Regardless of age, sperm continues to reproduce through division. If a sperm becomes altered or mutates, any other sperm that is produced by the natural division will also be altered or mutated. Each successive division introduces a slight risk of error in the genetic material of the new sperm, which is passed on to the children.
"Sperm studies in aging men often show kinetic or formation disorders," says Dr. W-B Schill, professor in the Department of Dermatology and Andrology at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany. "Most observed were impaired spermatogoniogenesis (reproduction, dividing and development of the sperm cell) or spermatid (a maturing sperm cell) malformations, paralleled by a highly significant decrease in daily sperm production. This indicates and accompanies a gradual decline of fertility with increasing age. And, although alterations in sperm quality may be apparent, reduced motility and a lower percentage of spermatozoa (a totally mature sperm cell) with normal morphology are most frequent."
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