Conditions:
Male Infertility

Principal Proposed Treatments
  • There are no well-established natural treatments for male infertility.
Other Proposed Treatments
  • Zinc plus folate, Vitamin B12, Antioxidants, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Ginseng, Ashwagandha, Pygeum, L-Arginine, Beta-Carotene, L-Carnitine or Acetyl-L-Carnitine, Lycopene, Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), PABA (Para-Aminobenzoic Acid), Selenium, Docasahexaenoic Acid (DHA)
Not Recommended Treatments
  • Licorice, Melatonin

Male infertility, the inability of a man to produce a pregnancy in a woman, can be caused by a great variety of problems, from anatomical defects to hormonal imbalances. In about half of all cases, however, the source of the problem is never discovered.

The good news is that without any treatment at all, about 25% of supposedly infertile men bring about a pregnancy within a year of the time they first visit a physician for treatment. In other words, infertility is often only low fertility in disguise.

Proposed Treatments for Male Infertility

Zinc Plus Folate

A 26-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial compared the effects of treatment with zinc (66 mg of zinc sulfate, supplying 15 mg of zinc), folate (5 mg), and zinc plus folate against placebo.²² A total of 108 fertile men and 103 men with impaired fertility (“subfertile”) participated in the study. The two supplements combined significantly improved the sperm count and the percentage of healthy sperm in the subfertile men; neither supplement alone produced this effect, and there was little effect of the combined therapy on fertile men.

For more information on dosage and safety issues, see the full articles on folate and zinc.

Vitamin B₁₂

Mild B₁₂ deficiencies are relatively common in people over 60.^1,2 Such deficiencies lead to reduced sperm counts and lowered sperm mobility. Thus vitamin B₁₂ supplementation has been tried for improving fertility in men with abnormal sperm production.

In one double-blind study of 375 infertile men, supplementation with vitamin B₁₂ produced no benefits on average in the group as a whole.³ However, in a particular subgroup of men with sufficiently low sperm count and sperm motility, B₁₂ appeared to be helpful. Such "dredging" of the data is suspect from a scientific point of view, however, and this study cannot be taken as proof of effectiveness.

For more information, including dosage and safety issues, see the full vitamin B₁₂ article.

Antioxidants

Free radicals, dangerous chemicals found naturally in the body, may damage sperm. For this reason, a number of studies have evaluated the benefits of antioxidants for male infertility.

In a double-blind placebo-controlled study of 110 men whose sperm showed subnormal activity, daily treatment with 100 IU of vitamin E resulted in improved sperm activity and increased rate of pregnancy in their partners.⁶ For more information, including dosage and safety issues, see the full vitamin E article.

Preliminary studies suggest that vitamin C may improve sperm count and function.⁷ However, a recent double-blind study of 31 individuals that tested both vitamin C and vitamin E found no benefit.⁸ The dosages studied ranged from 200 to 1,000 mg daily. For more information, including dosage and safety issues, see the full vitamin C article.

Other Herbs and Supplements

Incomplete evidence suggests possible benefit with Panax ginseng,¹¹L-carnitine or acetyl-L-carnitine ,^12–20 a tomato extract containing lycopene,²¹coenzyme Q10,²⁴ and selenium.²⁵

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a component of fish oil, has also been evaluated as a possible treatment for infertility, but a double-blind trial of 28 men with impaired sperm activity found no benefit.⁹ Another double-blind study failed to find L-arginine effective.²⁶

Many other substances have been suggested as treatments for poor sperm function and infertility, including the herbs ashwagandha, eleutherococcus, pygeum, saw palmetto, and suma, as well as the supplements SAMe, and calcium, but there is no meaningful supporting evidence.

All the treatments listed in the article on impotence have also been proposed as treatments for male infertility.

Not Recommended Treatments

The herb licorice may reduce testosterone levels in men.¹⁰ For this reason, men with impotence, infertility, or decreased libido may want to avoid this herb.

Similarly, according to a preliminary double-blind study, melatonin affects testosterone and estrogen metabolism in men, and may impair sperm function.²³

Last reviewed August 2002 by Medical Review Board

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