Making babies is one of the biggest miracles of life. A couple is considered infertile if they have trouble falling pregnant after 12 months of active trying. Most people would focus on the female reproductive health. But statistics tell us that of all the infertility cases, male issues contribute to 40% of the cases, with female issues contributing to the other 40% and the rest is caused by either both partners or unknown reason.
So before you decide to spend all your energy doing tests and treatments for the woman, it pays to check the reproductive health of both the male and the female. To find out how to increase your chance to get pregnant, here is the Blog.
Male Infertility: Increasing Trend
According to numerous studies, young men today are significantly less fertile than our forefathers. Male fertility rates continue to drop at a rate of 2-3 % every year.
What has changed now from 50 years ago? Although we cannot put a finger down to pinpoint exactly what factors have caused the male fertility decline, we can take a look at the environment we live in today.
Our lifestyle is a lot more stressful. We are eating too much processed food compared to our grandparents. We have created so many environmental pollutants that can affect our immune system and hormonal system. We will discuss in the next Blog tips for male fertility.
What Causes Male Infertility?
For pregnancy to occur, you need to have a healthy sperm count in your testicles. Less than 20 million sperm per mL of semen is considered low if you are trying to conceive naturally. You will need healthy sperm motility, which is how well your sperm moves in order to travel up the female reproductive tract and penetrate the egg. You will also need to a healthy passage without blockages for the sperm to travel its course out of your body.
Here are some factors that may affect your fertility.
Low libido and sexual dysfunctions
Tiredness, stress, ageing, chronic illnesses, adrenal exhaustion, emotional trauma, medication, drugs, hormonal imbalance can cause low libido and sexual dysfunctions which then lead to male infertility. It’s important to diagnose the cause of low sexual desire so that the correct treatment and lifestyle change can be made. Chinese medicine may be able to restore balance and improve well-being.
Stress
Chronic or severe stress may have a negative impact on some men’s sperm count. The reason may be that your level of stress affects your reproductive hormones that are important for producing sperm. Find time to relax regularly. Enjoy nature’s walk. Practice deep breathing and mindfulness exercise. Find out how stress affects fertility and tips to reduce stress here.
Overweight
Studies have shown that being overweight may affect the quality of your sperm. It is a good idea to eat a healthy diet and exercise appropriately to improve your weight before you consider having babies. Find out some of the top foods to increase fertility here.
Medication and Other Drugs
Some medications are known to affect the body’s ability to produce healthy sperm or lower libido contributing to male infertility. Common ones include testosterone replacement therapy and cancer medication. Anabolic steroids in drugs or dietary supplements that build muscle and decrease fat also have a detrimental affect on male fertility. Like testosterone therapy, anabolic steroids damage the body’s ability to make sperms by messing up the natural hormonal signals. Certain anti-depressants (SSRIs), opiates (for pain), prostate medication, anti-fungal and ulcer drugs may also dampen your ability to have children.
Heavy alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, marijuana, cocaine harm your sperm and libido. If you are attending to have children, you will benefit a great deal by stopping these altogether.
Varicocele
This is a condition where the veins that drain the testicle swell up. The cause is unknown although it may be related to increased resistance to blood flow. This condition may lead to impaired sperm quality. Fortunately in many cases this condition can often be corrected by treatments such as surgery.
Undescended Testicles
Also called cryptorchidism, this is a common disorder that affects boys where a testicle fails to descend into the sac well away from the body to keep the sperm cool. Increased temperature is thought to have a harmful effect on the sperm count and quality. Adults who have had this condition may experience male infertility. This condition is associated with germ cells that do not mature properly. With the help of IVF (in vitro fertilisation) and ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) many infertile couples have been able to fall pregnant and have successful outcomes.
Infection
Infection can be a cause of male infertility if it leads to inflammation, blockages or scar tissues of the reproductive organs such as epididymis and testicles. Common infections include sexually transmitted diseases and HIV and other systemic infections. It is advisable to check for infection and inflammation markers from your local GP.
Autoimmune Disorders
Traumatic injuries, infection and varicocele are some of the reasons that cause the body’s immune system to attack its own sperms. These anti-sperm antibodies may cause male infertility by inhibiting sperm functions associated with fertilisation. It is important to get the right diagnosis and medical tests so that the correct treatments can follow.
Blocked Tubes
The transport of sperm can be affected when any of part of the reproductive passage is blocked. These include the tubes in the testicle, the epididymis, the vas deferens, the ejaculatory ducts and the urethra. The causes can be traumatic injuries, scarring from infections or surgeries, or genetic abnormality. Depending on the severity of the blockage, surgical treatment, Chinese medicine and the use IVF and ICSI may be helpful to assist fertility.
Tumours
Whether a tumour is cancerous or not, if it is found in the testicles or other reproductive organs or in the hormonal organs that control reproduction, such as the hypothalamus or the pituitary glands, it may lead to male infertility. Assisted fertility treatments may be helpful to increase the chances of conception.
Genetic Disorders
Chromosome defects can cause abnormality in the reproductive organs causing male infertility. Examples of genetic disorders are Klinefelter’s syndrome, Kallmann’s syndrome, Kartagener’s syndrome and cystic fibrosis. Assisted fertility treatments may be necessary to increase the chances of conception.
How Do I Find Out If I Have Male Infertility?
You may have absolutely no symptoms and yet still have trouble with fertility issues. It is highly recommended that you find out how healthy your reproductive system so that you can get closer to the bull’s eye. This can be done by blood tests, semen analysis, and physical examination with your GP and fertility specialist, and your overall health with a Chinese medicine practitioner.
Let us know if you have any questions.
We will discuss 7 tips for male fertility in our next Blog.
