Male Infertility: All You Need To Know

For men, their inability to father a child can be the most untoward fact of life. Male infertility is recognized as a problem, if a man is unable to impregnate his partner, even after a year of continuous attempts using no contraceptive measures.

The male factor infertility can be a result of a condition present right from the time of birth, therefore – congenital or can develop later due to certain treatments or lifestyle conditions and hence - acquired. Moreover, while some disorders can be cured, there are still others that become more difficult to treat, the longer they persist without treatment.

Common Causes of Male Factor Infertility:
• Chemotherapy: Drugs used for chemotherapy harm the sperm production and/or destroy the sperms produced.
• Defect or obstruction in the reproductive system.
• Diseases like cystic fibrosisdefine, Sickle cell anemia or sexually transmitted diseases.
• Hormone dysfunction like testosterone deficiency, commonly caused due to a disorder in the endocrine system.
• Infection like prostatitis, epididymitis, orchitis related to the male sexual organs can cause permanent infertility, if acquired before attaining puberty.
• Injuries like accidental, testicular or a hit on the scrotum.
• Antibioticdefine medications impair the sperm cell mobility.
• Medication commonly used to treat high blood pressure, digestive disorders and arthritis impact negatively on sperm mobility.
• Tumors of the pituitary gland, hypothalamus or testicles
• Metabolic disorders like hemochromatosis (affects how the body uses and stores iron)
• Varicocele i.e swollen veins.
• Hormonal disorders
• Retrograde ejaculation, a condition in which semen flows backwards into the bladderdefine during ejaculation.
• Exposure to toxic substances
• Cigarette or marijuana smoking
• Heavy alcohol consumption
• Exposure of the genitals to high temperatures

Diagnoses
Male factor infertility is usually diagnosed after a thorough examination and review of the man's medical history, surgical history and physical examination. Semen analysis, chronic disease, pelvic injury, childhood illness, abdominal or reproductive organ surgery, use of prescription medications and assessing lifestyle conditions are the important areas of investigation.

Treatment:
Once tested positive for male factor infertility, depending upon the condition and requirements three categories of treatment are available.

• Assisted reproduction:
Under this class of treatment different therapies based on methods to improve erectile dysfunction, induce ejaculation, sperm retrieval and washing, etc are used to promote chances of conception. However, average conception success rate for these procedures stands at about 30 percent.

• Drug therapy:
Different class of drugs targeting improvement in sperm production, treating hormonal dysfunction and fertility-impairing infections are prescribed to the patients.

• Surgery:
In cases of obstruction in the reproductive tract and varicocele i.e. cases of swollen veins, surgery becomes the only line of treatment.

Lifestyle Changes:
A healthy and nutritious diet holds an important place in dealing with this class of imparity too. Where indulging in a healthy diet can correct major infertility issues, non-indulgence can be the cause. Nutritional deficiencies impair the hormone functioning, add to abnormal sperm production and also inhibit sperm production.
• Focus on fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains and poultry products.
• Drink lots of liquids, but avoid over consumption of alcohol and caffeine.
• Quit smoking
• Eliminate processed and refined foods
• Cut saturated fats and hydrogenated oils, use olive oil instead.
• Supplements like Selenium, Vitamin B-12, Vitamin C and E, Zinc are known to boost sperm count.
• Herbal Medications like Ginseng, Astragalus, Sarsaparilla and Saw palmetto are developed to resolve infertility issues both in men and women. But use only high-quality products.