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Sperm quality is often considered a measure of male fertility, but what if it also holds clues to a longer life? A new study suggests that men with higher-quality sperm tend to live longer than those with poor swimmers that struggle to reach their destination.
The large-scale research, published in the journal Human Reproduction, tracked over 78,000 men for 50 years. The findings revealed that men with the best-quality sperm lived nearly three years longer than those with the lowest quality.
“It really seems to be that the better the semen quality, the longer the survival,” said lead study author Lærke Priskorn, a researcher and doctoral candidate at Copenhagen University Hospital, in a statement.
But what exactly links sperm quality to a longer life? Could this be a key indicator of overall health? Here’s a closer look at what the study uncovered.
Semen quality linked to lifespan
Hailed as a “landmark study,” researchers from Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark conducted a broad and comprehensive survey of 78,284 men who had their semen quality assessed between 1965 and 2015, due to couple infertility.
With that large of a dataset, they analysed semen quality in depth, which included “semen volume, sperm concentration, and the proportion of sperm that were motile and a normal shape.”
During follow-ups, they tracked mortality rates and causes of death among participants. By that point, 8,600 of the men—about 11 per cent of the total—had passed away, while some of these men had donated sperm between 1987 and 2015.
When researchers compared the compiled data, they found a clear link between sperm quality and life expectancy.
“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. The lower the semen quality, the lower the life expectancy. This association was not explained by any diseases in the ten years before semen quality assessment or the men’s educational level,” said study author Lærke Priskorn.
The ability of a sperm to properly swim through the female reproductive tract to reach and fertilise an egg is called motility.
To put it in perspective, a man with extremely poor sperm motility could expect to live around 77.6 years, while someone with exceptionally high motility could reach 80.3 years, according to the study’s findings.
Why this matters
While semen testing is primarily used to assess fertility, experts suggest it could serve as an early indicator of broader health issues in men.
Dr Niels Jorgensen, chief andrologist at the Department of Growth and Reproduction at Copenhagen University Hospital, stressed the importance of understanding the link between semen quality and overall health.
“We need to better understand the association between semen quality and men’s general health. However, this study suggests that we can identify subgroups of men with impaired semen quality who are apparently healthy when their semen quality is assessed, but who are at increased risk of developing certain diseases later in life,” he said.
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Now, researchers are looking to pinpoint which specific diseases are more prevalent in men with poor semen quality. If certain conditions are identified, sperm analysis could eventually become a tool for early disease detection and prevention, allowing doctors to guide at-risk men toward lifestyle changes or medical interventions.
In an accompanying editorial, John Aitken, a professor emeritus from the School of Environmental and Life Sciences at the University of Newcastle, Australia, who was not involved in the study wrote, “If spermatozoa really are the canaries in the coalmine of male health, the obvious question to ask is why.”
Oxidative stress might be the culprit
could be oxidative stress, according to Aitken. This occurs when free radicals—unstable molecules that can damage DNA and disrupt cellular function—accumulate in the body, leading to cell death, including in the testes and sperm.
Aitken also pointed to genetic factors, immune system deficiencies, underlying health conditions like heart disease, lifestyle choices, and environmental pollutants as other potential contributors to poor semen quality and overall health risks.
As per The Guardian report, Allan Pacey, a professor of andrology at the University of Manchester, urged men with low sperm quality not to panic but to stay proactive about their health.
“It’s important that men with poor sperm quality do not panic, but they should take the opportunity to discuss any concerns with their fertility specialist or family doctor. As they get older, they should be encouraged to engage with any offer of any healthcare screening which is offered to them,” he said.
With input from agencies