Semen Analysis: What Affects The Test
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What Affects the Test
Factors that can interfere with your test or the accuracy of the results include:
- Medicines, such as cimetidine (Tagamet), male and female hormones (testosterone, estrogen), sulfasalazine, nitrofurantoin, and some chemotherapy medicines.
- Caffeine, alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, and smoking tobacco.
- Herbal medicines, such as St. John's wort and high doses of echinacea.
- A semen sample that gets cold. The sperm motility value will be inaccurately low if the semen sample gets cold.
- Exposure to radiation, some chemicals (such as certain pesticides or spermicides), and prolonged heat exposure.
- An incomplete semen sample. This is more common if a sample is collected by methods other than masturbation.
- Not ejaculating for several days. This may affect the semen volume.
| Last updated: | February 20, 2007 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS |
| Reviewed By: | Martin Gabica, MD - Family Medicine, Avery L. Seifert, MD - Urology |
| Editors: | Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Tracy Landauer |
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