Male Infertility Prevention, Diagnosis, Myths and Treatment (Day 2).

 

Male Infertility Prevention

How can one prevent male factor infertility?
One important way is through a healthy lifestyle;
Avoid #alcoholism and smoking these tend to affect #sperm quality.
Cigarette and marijuana smoking will affect the concentration, movement and shape of the sperm.
There are people who abuse certain drugs called steroids either to make them gain weight or for other reasons.
This may lead to infertility.
Avoid subjecting your testis to very high temperatures such as hot tubs and saunas, this may cause a temporary reduction in the amount of sperm you produce.
Avoid multiple sexual partners. You could develop infections that eventually affect your fertility.
Are you guilty of any of these?

How is male infertility diagnosed?

Lets talk about how to diagnose male factor infertility.
When you go to a doctor he doesn’t rush to start writing drugs, he will take a systematic approach to managing you.
He will first want to know somethings about you like how long you’ve been trying to get your spouse pregnant, whether you’ve been able to impregnate a woman before, whether you’ve had any childhood illnesses that could affect your fertility.

After this he will perform a physical examination; here he will feel and check for the testis and important structures around it like the epididymis and spermatic cord, these tests are very important as they may point to where the problem lies.

How can I check my sperm count?

Several tests may be done but the most important is a #semen analysis.
Your semen is obtained after a 2 or 3 day abstinence period and tested to see whether any potential cause of infertility can be found. Your doctor will check for

1. Your sperm volume.
2.  How your Sperm moves
3. The shape
4. Whether there is any sign of infection etc.

Talking about sperm volume, normal semen should be about 1.5 to 5 mls. If the volume is less than this it could signify a problem with ejaculation or there could be an obstruction.
Another parameter checked is the concentration of the sperm, normal semen should have more than 20 million sperm cells in one ml, when this number is less that’s when we have what is called #oligospermia.
Azoospermia means no sperm is present.. If it turns out that the man has oligospermia or Azoospermia a hormonal test will be necessary.

So you see why checking a man is also necessary in cases of infertility.

Male infertility myths and reality

Let’s talk about some myths and beliefs about male factor infertility; the first is that a man cannot be infertile maybe because of the fact that he is a man or because his parents were not infertile, this we have already proven to be false.
Another is the fact that because a man produces semen, it automatically means it can fertilise an egg, this we have also proven to be false.
A common belief is the idea of determining the viability of sperm just by looking at it and calling it ‘thick’ or ‘watery sperm’. Only through a seminal fluid analysis can you determine the viability of sperm.

Can male infertility be treated?

If a man has a problem with fertility, what kind of doctor should he see? Though you can see any doctor e.g. a general physician, The best doctor to see is a urologist, this is a specialist in the male urinary and reproductive organs, this is especially important if there is eventually a need for surgery. You may also need to see an endocrinologist when there is a hormonal problem.

Do not visit quacks.

In very few cases, #male infertility may be due to problems with ejaculation – this could be drug induced or due to other factors. If due to a drug e.g. a hypertensive drug, a substitute drug may be considered. Men with hormonal problems can benefit from hormonal drugs which will help production of sperm.
Antibiotics  for infections.
Surgery may be done e.g. to correct a varicocele. A varicocele is essentially an abnormal enlargement of the veins in the scrotum, it is a cause of male infertility.

Consider Assisted reproduction e.g. in vitro fertilization  if all fails.

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Join me tomorrow as we discuss female infertility.