Trying For A Baby? Sleeping Naked May Boost A Man's Sperm Quality, Study Suggests
Trying For A Baby? Sleeping Naked May Be Best For Men, Study Suggests
Ellen Wallwork— The Huffington Post UK
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Going to bed without underwear on may increase your chances of having a baby - (and not just for the obvious reason), according to a new study.
Men who are hoping to become fathers should sleep naked and wear roomy boxer shorts during the day for the best chance of getting their partner pregnant, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in Baltimore.
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The researchers from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Maryland, and Stanford University followed 500 men for up to 12 months, tracking their underwear choices and monitoring their sperm quality.
They found men who wore boxers during the day and were naked at night had 25% less DNA fragmentation in their sperm compared with men who wore tight briefs day and night.
In layman's terms "fragmentation" means “damage.” Less than 15% damage usually means a very good outcome.
"Type of underwear worn during the day and to bed is associated with semen quality," said the study's lead author.
"Better [sperm] quality parameters are observed in men wearing boxers during the day and none in bed."
Professor.Dr Geeta Nargund, medical director of Create Fertility (www.createhealth.org) and Professor Adam Balen, chair of the British Fertility Society cautioned further research is needed to confirm the findings:
"Any research that potentially helps men to improve their natural fertility with lifestyle changes should be welcomed. Fertility education and prevention of infertility are important," Nargund told HuffPost UK Parents.
"Findings of this study are interesting but we need larger studies to confirm this.
"It is well known that men who expose their testicles to increased temperature by wearing tight underwear or having hot baths can have reduced sperm quality."
Balen concurred: “This study supports the notion that keeping the testes cool is better for sperm function.
"However, we lack hard evidence that this leads to more pregnancies, which ultimately is all that matters.”
10 Things You May Not Know About Your Fertility
(01 of10)
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1. Your fertility is mostly determined by genetics, which influences how many eggs you are born with. Doctors believe that the number of eggs you have at birth determines the length of time you will remain fertile. At birth, women have about two million eggs in their ovaries. For every egg ovulated during your reproductive life, about 1,000 eggs undergo programmed cell death. Other things, such as smoking cigarettes and certain types of chemotherapy, can accelerate egg cell death and promote an earlier menopause.
(02 of10)
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2. Regular menstrual cycles are a sign of regular ovulation.Most women have regular cycles lasting between 24 and 35 days. This is usually a sign of regular, predictable ovulation. Women who do not ovulate regularly have irregular menstrual cycles. Those who do not ovulate at all may have a genetic condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
(03 of10)
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3. Basal temperature charting does not predict ovulation.An older method of tracking ovulation involves taking your oral body temperature each morning before getting out of bed. This is called basal body temperature. This method is used to spot a rise in basal temperature, which is a sign that progesterone is being produced. The main problem with using this method is that your temperature rises after ovulation has already occurred. This makes it more difficult to time intercourse at an optimal time for conception. A better method is to use over-the-counter urine ovulation predictor test kits such as Clearblue Easy. These kits test for the hormone that prompts ovulation, which is called luteinizing hormone (LH).
(04 of10)
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4. Most women with blocked fallopian tubes are completely unaware they may have had a prior pelvic infection.About 10 percent of infertility cases are due to tubal disease, either complete blockage or pelvic scarring causing tubal malfunction. One major cause of tubal disease is a prior pelvic infection from a sexually transmitted disease such as chlamydia. These infections can cause so few symptoms that you may be completely unaware your tubes are affected. This is why fertility physicians will order a dye test of the tubes, called a hysterosalpingogram (HSG), if you have been trying and failing to conceive for 6 months or longer.
(05 of10)
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5. In most cases, stress does not cause infertility. Except in rare cases of extreme physical or emotional distress, women will keep ovulating regularly. Conceiving while on vacation is likely less about relaxation than about coincidence and good timing of sex.
(06 of10)
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6. By age 44, most women are infertile, even if they are still ovulating regularly. Even with significant fertility treatment, rates of conception are very low after age 43. Most women who conceive in their mid-40s with fertility treatment are using donated eggs from younger women.
(07 of10)
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7. Having fathered a pregnancy in the past does not guarantee fertility. Sperm counts can change quite a bit with time, so never assume that a prior pregnancy guarantees fertile sperm. Obtaining a semen analysis is the only way to be sure the sperm are still healthy!
(08 of10)
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8. For the most part, diet has little or nothing to do with fertility. Despite popular press, there is little scientific data showing that a particular diet or food promotes fertility. One limited study did suggest a Mediterranean diet with olive oil, fish and legumes may help promote fertility.
(09 of10)
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9. Vitamin D may improve results of fertility treatments. A recent study from the University of Southern California suggested that women who were undergoing fertility treatments, but had low vitamin D levels, might have lower rates of conception. This vitamin is also essential during pregnancy. At Pacific Fertility Center, we recommend our patients take 2,000-4,000 IU per day.
(10 of10)
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10. Being either underweight or overweight is clearly linked with lowered levels of fertility. The evidence in recent years is that obesity is clearly linked with a longer time to conception. Having a body mass index less than 18 or over 32 is associated with problems ovulating and conceiving, as well as problems during pregnancy.