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# Diabetes mellitus affects sperm quality
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/diabetes_mellitus_affects_sperm_quality_0823141157/
- Published: 2014-08-23T12:56:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:21:51.000Z
- Description: Comparing 65 men with diabetes to 77 without, a study found worse sperm morphology among diabetic men with no sexual problems and lower semen volume and motility among the 50 with erection problems. The author calls the harm to ejaculate quality clear but highly variable between individuals.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Disease, Health News, #vivvo-import

Saturday Aug 23, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- Diabetes mellitus can worsen sperm quality like sperm motility, sperm morphology, the volume of ejaculate and to a lesser degree, sperm count, a new study suggests.

The study compared 65 adult men with diabetes mellitus and 77 controls without the disease and found sperm morphology in 15 patients without sexual disturbances was significantly worse than that found in semen from controls. In 50 diabetics with erection disturbances, the sperm volume and motility were lower.

Age has an effect on sperm quality. Diabetes mellitus had a greater effect on the semen quality in younger patients than older patients. However, diabetes mellitus diagnosed for more than eight years did not seem to have an effect on quality of sperm, but in those over 40 years old, it lowered the volume of an ejaculate. The sperm count and motility found in ejaculate of patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus for 12 or more years differed from that found in the semen of patients diagnosed with the disease for two years.

The author concluded "On the basis of these observations a negative influence of diabetes on the quality of the ejaculate seems unquestionable. There exists great variability in the adverse effect on the individual diabetic."

What can patients with diabetes mellitus do to reduce the detrimental effect of the disease on sperm quality? Another study suggests that taking vitamin C can reduce the effect. Diabetes mellitus patients experience greater oxidative stress. That explains why antioxidants like vitamin C supplements can help diabetics. (David Liu, PHD)

Barták V. Sperm quality in adult diabetic men. Int J Fertil. 1979;24(4):226-32.

Talebi AR, Mangoli E, Nahangi H, Anvari M, Pourentezari M, Halvaei I. Vitamin C attenuates detrimental effects of diabetes mellitus on sperm parameters, chromatin quality and rate of apoptosis in mice. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2014 Jul 30;181C:32-36.