Many of you had probably heard that June is the national male heath month, but did you know that male infertility is a leading cause in about one-third of infertility cases?
To lead to pregnancy (assuming the female partner is fertile), sperm needs to be sufficient, healthy, and able to move. It also has to be able to travel from the testicles into the semen. Multiple causes (from diseases and injuries to lifestyle or career choices) can jeopardize any of these conditions.
Some of the risk factors contributing to male infertility include chromosomal defects, infection, prior surgery in the abdominal area, radiation treatment, tumor of the reproductive system, environmental toxins (heavy metals, industrial chemicals), alcohol, tobacco, drugs, obesity, and prolonged bicycling.
Since I have no direct experience with the subject, I offer some links that provide detailed information on the possible causes and treatments of male infertility.
Johns Hopkins Medicine
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/conditions/mens_health/male_factor_infertility_85,P01484/
University of Maryland Medical Center
http://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/infertility-in-men
Weill Cornell Medical College
https://www.cornellurology.com/clinical-conditions/male-infertility/
Andrology Australia
https://www.andrologyaustralia.org/your-health/male-infertility/
American Urological Association
https://www.auanet.org/education/guidelines/male-infertility-d.cfm
http://weill.cornell.edu/featured/missed_conception.html according to this article psychiatric medications like ssri's are linked infertility and possible birth defects. I believe that people need to approach psychiatric medication with caution when one is working getting off it can be dangerous and when someone has a wrong diagnosis or medication the side effects can be horrible. I can't think of any kind of test for a psychiatric conditions other than observation so it is easy to get a misdiagnosis. Being mismedicated can be scary.
ReplyDeleteWhile a lot has been written about maternal age and birth defects- I don't believe people are aware of the role that paternal age plays in the health of a child- as you can see from this chart
ReplyDeletehttp://www.harryfisch.com/images/biological-clock-graph.jpg
It looks like as a man ages the chances of fathering a child with deformity or disability increases at an exponential rate.
Maternal age is obviously a factor- so I wonder if there is any way to calculate the risk based on the age of both parents?
The article that it comes from is the following and it looks like one of the ways to mitigate the risks is testosterone therapy.
http://www.harryfisch.com/the-male-biological-clock.html
Yes, recent studies suggest that a man's age can indeed influence the pregnancy outcome. Here is a great link on the topic: http://www.ivf1.com/father-age-fertility/.
DeleteThe statements that stand out the most to me are those on CHD and autism.
ReplyDeleteWith CHD it show's there has been a link between Ventricular septal defect and Atrial septal defect both of which are 2 of Faithstar's (Anastia) 4 heart defects. The two that appear in Anastasia's heart but not in the article are an aortopulmonary window and a narrowed left pulmonary artery. Her dad was almost 50 when she was born her mother was in her late 30's.
Then it states that the reported prevalence of autism and related conditions (ASD) has increased- the claim while true it is actually a bit misleading because the definition of has changed over and who qualifies for an ASD diagnosis has been expanded and that needs to be taken into account.
There is also a substantial link between CHD and infertility drugs and procedures. There is also a lot of population overlap with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Over 40% of people on the spectrum have at least 1 CHD and as many as 60% of CHD survivors find themselves on the spectrum although we don't yet understand the reasons for the overlap, we do know that the overlapping patients who have both conditions usually have also been the ones who required surgery or cardiac catheterization procedures to treat the CHD
ReplyDeleteWhat do you know about the changes with the defintion of autism in the newest DSM ?
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