Semen Quality Could Be the Secret to a Longer Life, Study finds
Men's semen quality is associated with how long they live according to a study of nearly 80,000 men, which is published in Human Reproduction, one of the world’s leading reproductive medicine journals.
The study followed the men for up to 50 years and found that those with a total number of motile sperm (sperm that can move or ‘swim’) of more than 120 million could expect to live two to three years longer than men with a total motile sperm count of between 0 and 5 million.
The research was led by Dr Lærke Priskorn, a senior researcher, and Dr Niels Jørgensen, chief andrologist who analysed data from 78,284 men who had their semen quality assessed. Assessment of semen quality included semen volume, sperm concentration, and the proportion of sperm that were motile and a normal shape.
Dr Priskorn said: “Previous research has suggested that male infertility and lower semen quality could be associated with mortality. We conducted this study to test the hypothesis and at the same time get an absolute estimate of how much semen quality predicts a man’s lifespan and to understand whether diagnosed diseases prior to semen quality assessment might explain some of the reported association.
“We calculated the men’s life expectancy according to their semen quality and found that men with the best quality could expect to live two to three years longer, on average, than men with the lowest semen quality. 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.”
The researchers suggest that poor semen quality may be an indicator of other, underlying factors that affect both fertility and overall health. This might have the potential for detecting health problems at the time men have their semen quality investigated.
Ref: L Priskorn, R Lindahl-Jacobsen, T K Jensen, S A Holmboe, L S Hansen, M Kriegbaum, B S Lind, V Siersma, C L Andersen, N Jørgensen, Semen quality and lifespan: a study of 78 284 men followed for up to 50 years, Human Reproduction, 2025;, deaf023, https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deaf023
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