Male Infertility And Preventive Medicine

Infertility is the inability of a couple to become pregnant after a year of unprotected intercourse. This can happen in the male partner, the female partner, or both. In Men, infertility disorders happen due to various reasons such as low or no sperm count, blocked sperm ducts, failure to ejaculate, etc. Semen deficiencies are the main cause of infertility in men. However, it is not true that men with low sperm count necessarily be infertile. Timely and proper medical intervention can lead to improved fertility that can result in giving birth to a baby. Specialists also prescribe preventive medicines for those who may need them.

Causes of Male Infertility 

1. Sperm Count Disorder- This refers to low or no spermatozoa in men.   In a normal situation, a sperm count in the range of thirty to two hundred million sperms per millimeter of semen is considered efficient for reproduction. An infertile man will therefore have less than the minimum number of sperms required or sometimes no sperm at all. Sometimes infertility can also happen when sperm don’t move as well as they should.  Such disorder does not have any physical symptoms and can only be detected by a test.
2. Abnormal Sperm- In the case of certain males the sperms developed are not of proper shape. This hampers their motility which is necessary for fertilizing the egg. Such distorted sperms are not able to fertilize an egg.
3. Failure to Ejaculate is also a common cause of infertility during intercourse where the semen travels back towards the bladder instead of moving out inside the vagina. Hence no egg fertilization or implantation is possible.
4. Continuous exposure of Testis to high temperature can drastically affect the sperm’s mobility and hence its ability to fertilize the egg.
5. Blockage of Sperm Ducts can lead to infertility in some men. This can also lead to certain infections like mumps, congenital defects, injury to the testicles, etc.
6. Excessive smoking and drinking alcohol over a long period of time affect general health and particularly the reproductive system. The adverse effect on the glands making them dysfunctional.
7. Genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis or chromosomal disorders can cause infertility.