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The study, which examined data from almost 80,000 Danish men over a period of up to 50 years, found that men with higher-quality sperm may live two to three years longer than those with lower-quality sperm.

Scientists conducting the study looked at semen volume, sperm concentration, and the percentage of motile sperm with normal shape.

The analysis showed that men with a higher number of motile sperm had a life expectancy that was two to three years longer than men with the lowest number of motile sperm, according to the study published in the journal Human Reproduction.

Dr Lærke Priskorn, a senior researcher at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark and the study’s lead author, stated that “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 zero and five 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,” she added.

A potential health indicator for men

The connection between semen quality and overall health could be one hypothesis explaining the observed link. Previous research by the team found that men with lower sperm concentration were also hospitalized seven years earlier on average, indicating that men with impaired semen quality may live fewer healthy years.

Dr Germaine Buck Louis, dean of the College of Health at George Mason University in the US, commented in an email to Euronews Health, “The current findings corroborate and add to the limited albeit growing body of research showing that semen quality is an important marker of current health and likely predictive of future health across the lifespan.”

“Greater clinical awareness is evolving and has prompted some authors to call for semen quality being considered the 6th vital sign,” the expert, who was not involved in the study, added.

The typical vital signs measuring the body’s basic functions are temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation.

The study does not identify the underlying causes of the difference in life expectancy. However, Dr Germaine Buck Louis stated that “environmental exposures may be responsible, possibly through oxidative stress pathways, as they affect both reproductive health and more general health.”

Without knowing the exact causes of infertility and the impact on cell functions, it is difficult to develop medical interventions or new drugs to treat the problem, according to Dolores Lamb, co-director of the research learning center at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, a hospital in the US.

“The common link between infertility and the increased health risks of men with infertility is currently under active research investigation,” Lamb added.