SpermComet - Patient Information

Sperm DNA damage and why it is important for Your treatment

You and your partner are each going to give some of your DNA to your baby, so the health of

your DNA can impact on the health of your baby.

What is sperm DNA damage?

Research has shown that one of the reasons for increasing infertility around Europe is that

sperm quality has deteriorated. There are many reasons for this, such as smoking, poor diet

and environmental pollutants. All of these produce Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) that can

damage the DNA of your sperm.

Sperm DNA damage can lead to;

Fewer eggs being fertilized



 Embryos not developing as well as they should

Lower pregnancy rates



Miscarriage



What if the semen analysis is normal? Do we need to have sperm DNA damage as well?

Recent research shows that there is little correlation between a traditional semen analysis

results and the amount of DNA damage in your sperm. So even if your sperm counts are

normal, you may have DNA damage in your sperm. This means that just because a man has a

normal semen analysis, he may not be able to get his partner pregnant.

Sperm DNA testing can guide you to a diagnosis and give you more information for your

treatment choices.