Health

What is infertility?

Infertility is defined as the inability of a sexually active couple who does not use contraception to achieve spontaneous pregnancy within 1 year. About 15% of couples fail to conceive within 1 year and seek medical treatment for infertility. 50% of couples have a factor associated with male infertility, often with unusual semen parameters. For this reason, male patients in these couples should undergo a detailed medical evaluation by a urologist.

What are the symptoms of male infertility?
In many cases, there are no random signs of infertility. Ligament, erection and ejaculation usually occur without any problems. The size and appearance of the semen often looks normal from the outside.

What causes male infertility?
Male infertility is often caused by problems that affect sperm production or sperm transport. Through medical tests, your physician can find the cause of the problem. About two-thirds of infertile men have problems with sperm production in their testicles. Although there are many reasons that affect sperm production in the testicles, sometimes no random cause can be found. Sperm from testicles to penis
Obstructions in the tubes that lead to it can cause a complete lack of sperm in the semen. Other less common causes of infertility include: sexual difficulties affecting sperm reaching the egg for fertilization to occur (one in 100 infertile couples); in the pituitary gland
low levels of synthesized hormones (one in 100 infertile men); and antibodies against sperm (one out of 16 infertile men).

How is male infertility diagnosed?
Diagnosis includes physical examination with a detailed medical history and a semen analysis to check the number, shape and movement of sperm in the ejaculate. Hormone levels that control sperm production or genetic tests may be requested when necessary. Sometimes testicular biopsies or testicular-prostate ultrasound are performed.
Infertility should be considered as a couples issue that requires consideration of both the male and female partner, even if one partner has a child from another interest. Male infertility can be a sign of other (possibly undiagnosed) health problems, such as testosterone deficiency or co-existing testicular cancer, so it’s worth investigating.

How is male infertility treated?
If a random cause of infertility is found after examination and tests, surgical treatment, treatment of infections and hormone therapy can be applied for this cause. If these systems do not help, assisted reproductive techniques (in vitro fertilization) are recommended to the patient.

Can I do something random to prevent male infertility?
It is best to avoid smoking, a lot of alcohol, sexually transmitted infections, heat build-up from tight underwear, and anabolic steroids (take for bodybuilding or sports purposes) as these can cause significant damage to sperm production.