Putting off sex does not help fertility, say experts

Couples undergoing fertility treatments do not need to abstain from sex for up to a week to improve their chances of success, researchers say, in findings that challenge standard medical advice.

Men are usually told to avoid sex for two to seven days to increase semen volume and sperm count.

The World Health Organisation makes the same recommendation.

But Israeli scientists at Soroka University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Beersheba, said this was unnecessary.

"Our data challenge the role of abstinence in male fertility treatments," Dr Eliahu Levitas told a meeting in Madrid of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.

Infertility affects about one in six couples due to a problem with the woman, man or both. Male infertility results when no sperm, or not enough, are produced or if their shape or movement are abnormal.

"What we've found is not so relevant where only a single sperm is injected into the egg, but for those treatments where we're trying to get the best possible sperm quality for intra-uterine insemination," Levitas said, referring to a treatment in which sperm are injected into the uterus.

The researchers tested more than 7200 semen samples for sperm concentration, shape and counts of motile (active and moving) sperm.

About 6000 samples were from men being tested or treated for infertility who had avoided sex for up to two weeks. More than 4500 had normal sperm counts. The rest had reduced counts ranging from mild to severe.

The study found the volume of semen increased after 11 to 14 days of abstinence but the shape and form of the sperm deteriorated.

In men with low sperm counts, the proportion of motile sperm fell from day two onwards and reached a low at day six.

"Semen volume was directly and significantly correlated with duration of abstinence, while sperm motility was inversely and significantly related to abstinence in oligozoospermic [reduced sperm count] samples only," said Levitas.

Nearly 5000 doctors, scientists and fertility experts from 95 countries are attending the four-day conference, which ends tomorrow.

- REUTERS