Necrozoospermia
Necrozoospermia or necrospermia – is the medical term that describes when the sperm is dead (or necrotic) in a fresh semen sample.
The dead sperms are known as the necrotic. And for a semen sample, 30% of the dead sperms can be ignored and the semen can still be said to be normal.
Male factors are responsible for more than forty percent of the infertility cases. Necrozoospermia is one among the main cause for infertility in male. Necrospermia i.e. 100% immotile and 0% viable spermatozoa in ejaculate, is a rare and poorly documented cause of male infertility.
Is Asthenozoospermia the same as that of the Necrozoospermia?
No, these two are completely different terms and cannot be used interchangeably. So to get your confusion clear, have a glance at the underlined information:
• Necrozoospermia – When the sperms are dead in the semen sample
• Asthenozoospermia –When the sperms are unable to swim to fertilise the eggs.
Causes –
It’s not entirely clear what causes necrozoospermia. Because it is so rare, there are a lot of unknowns. Possible causes and theories include:
• Abnormally high body temperature (such as in men who use wheelchairs or hot tubs)
• Advanced paternal age
• Anti-sperm antibodies (where the body’s immune symptom attack its own healthy, normal sperm cells)
• Early testicular cancer
• Exposure to toxins, such as lead, pesticides, mercury, or cadmium
• Hormonal causes, as with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH)
• Infection in the male reproductive tract
• Problems with the testicles or epididymis (which is a long, coiled tube just above each testicle, where sperm are collected and mature before ejaculation)
• Prolonged periods of no ejaculation
• Spinal cord injuries
• Street drug use
• Varicocele (abnormally dilated veins in the scrotum)
Diagnosis –
It can be diagnosed by a semen analysis done in a Laboratory by using an Eosin test or Hypo-osmotic flagellar coiling test.
Often, this diagnosis is made incorrectly, usually because the semen sample was not collected properly:
• This may be because the man used a spermicidal lubricant while masturbating
• The container may have been dirty, and this contamination could kill the semen
However it should not be confused with Asthenozoospermia where sperms are non-motile but they are not dead.
Treatment –
If the sperm are live but immotile, then the diagnosis is not necrozoospermia, but severe asthenospermia. This is a condition which is easier to manage because it’s possible to do ICSI after identifying the live sperm using special techniques such as the hypoosmotic swelling test ( HOS.)
The best option is TESE-ICSI – testicular sperm extraction with ICSI. Since the sperm are being directly extracted from the testes, they all have to be alive, since all cells in the body are alive! With TESE-ICSI, fertilization is guaranteed – and the success rate is very high because the wives of these men are usually young ( since the diagnosis is made quite early during the infertility workup).
Ayurvedic Perspective –
The branch of Ayurveda dealing with sexual well-being is called as Vajikarana. Overcoming infertility needs some basic lifestyle modulation.
Some of the Vajikarana dravyas include:
• Semen enhancing dravyas – milk, ghee, shatavari, ashwagandha etc.
• Semen purifying dravyas – sugarcane, kushtha etc.
• Dravyas promoting the fertilization capacity in semen – brahmi, shatavri, guduchi etc.
• For libido increasing – kesar, garlic, long pepper, lavanga (clove) etc.
• Dravyas preventing premature ejaculation – nutmeg, ashwagandha, chandana etc.
In Ayurvedic terms, dravya denotes the medicine or drug used for treatment. For male infertility, certain dravyas are used to provide
• Balya (those which increase the strength of the body)
• Brumhana (those which provide necessary nutrition to the body)
• Vrishya (those which increase fertility).
Some of the recommended dravyas and formulations are –
• cow’s milk
• cow’s ghee
• honey
• ashwagandha
• bala
• shatavari
• triphala
• shilajitu
• musali pak
• chyawanaprasha
• vrishya vati
• kushmanda avaleha
• rasayana vati
are known to be helpful in maintaining sexual wellness.
Exercises and Yoga
Regular exercise, yoga, and eating balanced meals helps in keeping the mind, body and soul balanced. Include the following yogasanas in your daily yoga practice.
• padmasana (lotus pose)
• paschimottanasana (seated forward bend)
• bhujangasana (cobra pose)
• sarvangasana (shoulder stand)
• praivritta trikonasana (twisted triangle pose)
For more informative articles on infertility and other health related issues, please visit our website www.santripty.com and also feel free to consult.