Sperm quality linked to living longer, study finds

Get inspired by a weekly roundup on living well, made simple. “In absolute terms, men with a total motile count of more than 120 million lived 2.7 years longer than men with a total motile count of between 0 and 5 million,” said lead study author Lærke Priskorn, a researcher and doctoral candidate at Copenhagen University Hospital — Rigshospitalet in Denmark, in a statement. “This association was not explained by any diseases in the ten years before semen quality assessment or the men’s educational level.” Motility counts are typically provided in percentages, not total numbers. However, a motility count of less than 5 million per milliliter of semen is associated with a severe case of oligospermia, or low sperm count, which often leads to male infertility, the study said. “What possible factors could link the ultimate life expectancy of males with the quality of their semen profile in early adulthood?” Oxidative stress is one possibility According to Aitken, one answer explaining the association might be oxidative stress, caused when free radicals run rampant.