According to the world Health Organization, more than 30 % of couples for one reason or another have difficulty conceiving a child naturally. Slightly less than half of these cases occur in male infertility.
Male infertility is a reproductive dysfunction in men, in which sex cells male is unable to fertilize the egg naturally. When a couple realizes that has difficulty conceiving, the first is always the examined woman. I think this is not entirely true. The fact that the male survey much easier. Men only need to undergo a semen analysis, the results of which will be all clear. Women also need to undergo a series of examinations and pass many tests.
A positive result of the analysis of semen – 25-30 million spermatozoa per milliliter of semen. And if we see a slight deviation from the norm, it can be treated! If within six months we see a positive trend, so feel free to plan a natural pregnancy. If the sperm concentration is low (5-10 million or less), the pair needs to prepare for VRT.
Decode, just in case: art (assisted reproductive technology) is the collective name of the whole complex of procedures aimed at achieving a pregnancy in a patient in which several stages or all stages of conception are carried out outside the body of the mother.
Again, you need to understand that the indication for art, man needs to go through several surveys. Our goal is to fertilize the egg as healthy sperm. But it needs to exclude genetic abnormalities and rough hormonal disorders. All this needed to be corrected before IVF.
Causes of male infertility
Basically there are only four.
- External. It is primarily an unhealthy lifestyle. Alcohol consumption, Smoking, poor diet, inactivity and so on.
- Internal. Violation of functions of organs and hormonal disturbance.
- Immunological. These are the times when after diseases have antibodies that can adversely affect sperm.
- Genetic. Here you need to elaborate. Genetic science falls into congenital and acquired. The innate reason is the violation of the structure or number of chromosomes that are responsible for reproductive function. Such as, for example: Klinefelter syndrome or Kalman’s syndrome, the presence of deletions in the Y chromosome. Acquired cause is a disturbance of the DNA structure of the sperm under the influence of the presence of a large number of free radicals in the body. As an example, it may be associated with work in hazardous industries.
Treatment
When the first difficulties with conception do not immediately resort to IVF. As a rule, these problems are solved in the first year of marriage. If to solve them failed, trying to treat!
Therapeutic stimulation of spermatogenesis is 1-3 months. It consists of courses of vitamins and minerals, if necessary, hormonal therapy. Since semen is considered a “mirror” of men’s health, usually requires complex therapy to normalize the function of all organs and systems of the body. In certain cases, with minor deviations in spermogram from the rules, it is possible to conduct intrauterine insemination (introduction of the processed sperm into the uterus at the time of ovulation).
If the stimulation of spermatogenesis in 3-6 months or insemination has not given positive results, it is necessary to resort to in vitro fertilization.
In any case, go to art programmes is necessary only after the final conclusion of the doctor-andrologist. Often this function takes care of a gynecologist – reproductologist, which is a gross violation, as the conclusion and choice of method of assisted reproduction for male factor can give only a doctor-andrologist. Each specialist engaged in their field.
Despite the fact that information on the subject now abound, reproductive difficulties in many families, lead to despair, quarrels and divorce. And in fact, the problem is solved one hundred percent in most cases. So do not rush to quarrel, do not rush to blame each other and try to start, just to see the doctor. Be healthy!