Sex - fertility - light - Home Light Therapy

Sex - fertility - light

Sex - fertility - light

Light is essential to life. Sex is essential to life. Fertility is essential to life.

 

Dominic Lamb



Is there a connection between the 3?




The simple answer is yes. Looking across the animal kingdom, there is a clear link between fertility, sex and light. Specifically some species of animals only become fertile at a specific time of the year which corresponds to the amount of light. Some male species testicles increase in size during the summer months of longer light and shrink in winter. Luckily our fertility and sex life are not effected in the same way. However, light might have a part to play in human sex life and fertility. Let’s find out how and why.

The following article is based on the current research and is for education purposes only.



Fertility

 

Fertility-egg-sperm



It is estimated that 12-15% of couples suffer some form of fertility issues. For fertility we need to look at both sexes. Photobiomodulation (LLLT, light therapy, red light therapy, PBMT) has been studied for both male and female fertility. Some areas are worse than others, Japan has intervened to pay for IVF for couples because studies show that as many as 1 in 6 couples are infertile and need assistance. As many as 10% of Danish births came from assisted fertilization processes. The reasons for this increase in fertility issues are multifactorial and I am not an expert in this area. We do know that sperm counts in men are decreasing and conditions such as endometriosis in women are increasing which plays a role. Outside of the physical are the social where we see couples trying to have children later in life which lowers the fertility rate of success and the number of children people can have.


There are many aspects that can effect all aspects of fertility and sexual desire. For this article I will mainly focus on the role that light therapy can play.

 



Female fertility:

Unlike male reproductive organs, female reproductive organs exist on the inside of the body, this make direct red light therapy slightly more complicated.

The good news is that studies have shown some impressive results: Dr Ohshiro completed an extended trial on LLLT. The trial was performed on 701 severe infertile patients. 156 (22.3%) of became pregnant. This resulted in a successful live birth rate in over half (50.1%) of those pregnancies (1)

The mechanisms behind this remarkable result appears to be that red light therapy is able to increase oxygen saturation of the cells by displacing something called nitric oxide. The light therapy allows more ATP (cellular energy) to be produced by the mitochondria of the cells and improves blood circulation, and regulates inflammation across the body. Fertility declines with age as the mitochondria in eggs (which have several hundred more times of mitochondria than any other part of the body) starts to decline. Having a method (such as red light) that improves mitochondrial function could lead to increased fertility (as seen in the study above).

The studies by Dr Ohshiro involved shining 830nm light on the neck for just 15 seconds at a time. Yes, you read that right, 15 seconds!

Following this research, a study from Denmark showed that shining light on the abdomen of females could also improve fertility rates (3). This study took 400 severely infertile women and undertook fairly large doses of infrared light over their abdomen three times per week. Of the 400 women infertile women, a massive 260 of them were able to conceive following infrared light therapy The researchers showed that it was possible for infrared light to rejuvenate the health of the reproductive system in order to increase the rate of fertility in these females.
 
Male fertility:
Sperm-fertilization-egg

In males, shining light directly on the reproductive organs should make it easier.
The testicles also have photoreceptors that respond to red light. Current evidence suggests that red and near-infrared can improve sperm quality. The red/infrared light have shown to improve sperm motility and therefore impact fertility in men (4,5,6).
 
In studies on sperm, red and near-infrared light therapy at 635nm, 830nm and 904nm produced significant improvements in sperm motility, speed and survival rates.


More Sperm!
Furthermore illuminations of the testes (or more specifically the Sertoli cells) has been shown to increase the amount of sperm count of individual by 200-500% and reduce the production of abnormal sperm cells. One such study in Denmark showed sperm count increased 20x after just one light session of the testicles.
 
So why does red and near-infrared light therapy enhance sperm motility outside of the body?  The answer to this lies in the tails of spermatozoa which are comprised of a string of mitochondria, therefore improving their mitochondria increases their ability to “swim” upstream and enhances their viability (6).
 
Much like in females red light boosts mitochondrial function and ATP production. Sperm cells are packed full of mitochondria, so it makes sense that if you improve the mitochondria and ATP production of sperm, you will get faster, stronger sperm.

Mitochondria in the sperm can be improved, but so can the testosterone producing cells of the testes as well. This can lead to improved sexual function, and sperm viability and improved fertility.


One key area of note!

Avoid excess heat on the testicles/scrotum. Remember this when choosing a light device!
 

Libido



Libido is quite a subjective measurement, some people naturally have higher sex drives and others lower. Finding clinical evidence for this can be difficult. There is some evidence (9) that bright light can have a positive effective on sex drive but most of the evidence at this stage is anecdotal. There are a lot of anecdotal and testimonial evidence out there in forums and a small study of transcranial pbmt (10) showing good results.

On a personal note – I use transcranial lights, whole body light and sometimes light my testicles and I can say that there is an effect on me. In a short term sense from acute illumination on my testicles, it is truly powerful! The long term effects of full body illumination, give me more energy, more motivation and improve my mood, so my libido remains high. I have also had reports from females that similar can occur in women – both locally and with large area illumination.
 
Thyroid health can also have an effect on libido and sexual desire/satisfaction in males and females – red light has been shown to help modulate thyroid function and improve thyroid levels.
 

Testosterone



The main area of this specific blog is fertility. I will touch on testosterone now and come back to it at a later blog. Light has been shown to be a powerful indicator of. Vitamin D has  been associated with improved testosterone levels both through supplementation (7) and UV light exposure (8). Adequate/sensible sun exposure could be a starting point.

With regards to sunlight, the science is still mixed because often increased sunlight hours is associated with increased temperatures which are bad for testicle health and overall testosterone levels.

What about red light specifically?
As mentioned earlier in this article, red/infrared light can improve mitochondrial function and the energy production in certain cells. This also applies to Leydig cells (testosterone producing cells). Therefore, if you increase energy production and efficiency in testosterone cells, you could assume that would equate to more testosterone. The science is not conclusive at this stage
 
Improved whole body and thyroid health via light and red light can increase circulation of thyroid hormones, is known to stimulate testosterone production directly in the Leydig cells.
 
The research is still in the “early days” currently but stimulation of testicular photoreceptor proteins by red light induces cellular responses that may increase testosterone production in the longer term (as well as other metabolic pathways).
 
Erection:

I will go into more detail on this in the same blog as testosterone because the cause of erectile dysfunction (ED) can be widespread.
 
The initial research in this area is promising for this reason:
 
  1. The mechanism by which red light therapy works (nitric oxide release, better CO2 levels, increased blood flow, decreased vascular stiffness) can all lead to better, more complete erections.
Red light has been shown to dissociate NO from mitochondria more readily than infrared. 630nm or 670nm appear to be relevant here (11)
 
There are many more areas where red light can potentially help with in regard to ED such as thyroid health (yes it matters).





Summary



LEDs lasers and sunlight are studied with published papers.

  • Red wavelengths between 620-630nm and 670nm are ideal for males.

  • Near Infrared light around the 830nm range seems best for female fertility.

  • Local and more systemic lighting can have a positive effect

  • Keep heat away from the testicles

 

 

 

 

 

References:
  1. Ohshiro T. Personal Overview of the Application of LLLT in Severely Infertile Japanese Females. Laser Ther. 2012;21(2):97-103. doi:10.5978/islsm.12-OR-05
  2. https://www.ecronicon.com/ecgy/pdf/ECGY-08-00402.pdf
  3.  
  4. Salman Yazdi R, Bakhshi S, Jannat Alipoor F, Akhoond MR, Borhani S, Farrahi F, Lotfi Panah M, Sadighi Gilani MA. Effect of 830-nm diode laser irradiation on human sperm motility. Lasers Med Sci. 2014 Jan;29(1):97-104. doi: 10.1007/s10103-013-1276-7. Epub 2013 Feb 14. PMID: 23407899.
  5. Iurshin VV, Sergienko NF, Illarionov VE. Etiopathogeneticheskoe obosnovanie primeneniia magnitolazernoĭ terapii v kompleksnom lechenii muzhskogo besplodiia [Etiopathogenetic basis for using magnetolaser therapy in the complex treatment of male infertility]. Urologiia. 2003 Mar-Apr;(2):23-5. Russian. PMID: 12811920. 
  6. Moskvin SV, Apolikhin OI. Effectiveness of low level laser therapy for treating male infertility. Biomedicine (Taipei). 2018 Jun;8(2):7. doi: 10.1051/bmdcn/2018080207. Epub 2018 May 28. PMID: 29806585; PMCID: PMC5992952. 
  7. Pilz S, Frisch S, Koertke H, Kuhn J, Dreier J, Obermayer-Pietsch B, Wehr E, Zittermann A. Effect of vitamin D supplementation on testosterone levels in men. Horm Metab Res. 2011 Mar;43(3):223-5. doi: 10.1055/s-0030-1269854. Epub 2010 Dec 10. PMID: 21154195. 
  8. ABRAHAM MYERSON, RUDOLPH NEUSTADT, INFLUENCE OF ULTRAVIOLET IRRADIATION UPON EXCRETION OF SEX HORMONES IN THE MALE1, Endocrinology, Volume 25, Issue 1, 1 July 1939, Pages 7–12, https://doi.org/10.1210/endo-25-1-7 
  9. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160918214443.htm 
  10. Cassano P, Dording C, Thomas G, Foster S, Yeung A, Uchida M, Hamblin MR, Bui E, Fava M, Mischoulon D, Iosifescu DV. Effects of transcranial photobiomodulation with near-infrared light on sexual dysfunction. Lasers Surg Med. 2019 Feb;51(2):127-135. doi: 10.1002/lsm.23011. Epub 2018 Sep 17. PMID: 30221776; PMCID: PMC6382556.

 

  1. Oh KJ, Park J, Lee HS, Park K. Effects of light-emitting diodes irradiation on human vascular endothelial cells. Int J Impot Res. 2018 Nov;30(6):312-317. doi: 10.1038/s41443-018-0051-5. Epub 2018 Jul 25. PMID: 30046164.
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