Infertility in men results from low quality sperm, and may involve low semen volume, low sperm count, and reduced sperm motility among others. This accounts for 35 to 40% of infertility in couples. This is not only a result of bad habits such as smoking, drinking and drug use, but also because of other factors that cause hypogonadism. Doctors from Israel have come up with groundbreaking evidence that light could help solve infertility in men.

Studies done by both Meir Hospital located in Kfar Saba along with scientists of Bar-Ilan University launched a medical showed that three minutes of exposure to light results in increased sperm motility. The light used ranged in wavelengths from 400 to 700 nanometers and resulted in an increase in oxygen particles known as reactive oxygen species, or ROS, which contains oxygen ions and peroxides. Sperm samples also showed an increase in calcium as well as the protein Kinase A as a result of the visible light waves.

Whether infertility results from a low quality or low quantity of sperm, a light treatment could potentially increase the chances of success for in-vitro fertilization. The current live birth success rate for in-vitro fertilization is only 27% according to the Canadian Medical Association Journal. “Our hope is that the new method which was tested, much like the additional methods that are currently being researched, could improve the success rate and provide hope to couples who are not helped by fertility treatments stemming from low-quality sperm,” says Professor Adrian Shulman, director of the In-Vitro unit at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of the Meir Hospital in Israel.

Although excessive amounts of radiation can have a bad effect on animal cells, 400 to 700 nanometers has been proven not to have any harmful effects on the sperm. If light is the answer, this could potentially be an affordable way to increase chances of fertilization.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about Israel.