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Common Causes of Male Infertility

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Introduction

Figures have shown that 20 percent of couples in the United States seek advice or care relating to infertility at some point during their lifetime. Around 10 percent of couples in the United States are of reproductive age and infertile, and around 50 percent of these cases are down to make infertility. While many people believe that fertility problems are usually related to the female in the couple, this is largely due to the fact that many males do not seek medical help or advice in the same way as women do. Learn more about the Common Causes of Male Infertility

There are a number of common causes of male infertility, some of which are physical or hormonal issues. However, there are also many non-medical causes of infertility in men. This includes various lifestyle factors that can affect fertility levels, and men who lead healthier lifestyles are far less likely to experience these problems.

Some non-medical causes of infertility in males

There are a number of common problems and factors that can cause infertility in males. This includes:

  • Lifestyle choices: 

    A number of lifestyle choices can affect male fertility levels. This includes excessive drinking, smoking, poor diet, obesity, the use of anabolic steroids, and drug abuse among other things.

  • Vitamin deficiency: 

    You will also find that fertility levels can be affected by certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies. This includes a lack of zinc and vitamin C, so you should make sure you get plenty of these in your diet.

  • Too much exercise: 

    While exercise is an important part of leading a healthy lifestyle, exercising to excess can result in increased adrenal steroid hormones, which can have a negative impact on fertility levels.

  • Tight underwear: 

    If you wear underwear that is overly tight on a regular basis, you could find that this impact on your fertility levels. This is because your tight underwear can increase the temperature of your scrotum and this in turn can decrease the production of sperm.

  • High stress levels: 

    If you are suffering from high stress levels on a regular basis, you will find that your fertility levels can be affected. You therefore need to try and avoid stressful situations as much as possible if you want to minimize the risk of fertility problems.

  • Some environmental hazards: 

    It is also worth bearing in mind that exposure to certain environmental hazards and pollutants can lead to a drop in fertility levels. This could include exposure to a variety of toxins such as paint, lead, mercury, and a variety of other environmental pollutants.

Conclusion

Of course, male fertility problems are not always the result of lifestyle or environmental issues, and it is therefore always important to seek advice from a medical professional in the event that you are experiencing problems. It is important for your doctor to be able to ascertain the cause of the fertility problems in order to determine the best solution. This could be anything from treatment administered by your doctor through to advice relating to lifestyle changes.

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Study of babies born post-fertility treatment shows significant improvement over past 20 years

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Introduction

Children born after their parents underwent Assisted Reproduction Treatment (ART) have shown significant improvements in their health outcomes. Fewer babies are now being born pre-term, with low birth weight, and stillborn or dying within the first year of life says the largest study to date investigating the health outcomes of ART babies over time. Post-fertility

Doctor Recommendation

Dr Anna-Karina Aaris Henningsen and her colleagues, from the Fertility Clinic at the Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark collated the data from over 92,000 children in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden born between 1988 and 2007 after ART and compared them with a control group of spontaneously conceived children.

Scientific Research

By transferring only one embryo per cycle you significantly reduce the risk of multiple pregnancies, and at the same time have a profound effect on the health of the single baby. “We observed a remarkable decline in the risk of being born pre-term or very pre-term” says Dr Henningsen. “The proportion of single ART babies born with a low or very low birth weight – less than 2500g or 1500g respectively – also decreased.”

Sweden

In Sweden for example, the rate for pre-term births (that is, babies born before 37 week gestation) in the period from 1988 to 1992 was 27.9%; by the time of the 2003 to 2007 period, this had dropped to 12.8%. The rates for babies who were born small for their gestational age also halved in the same period. From 1988 to 1992 it was 7.6% compared to 3.2% in the later 2003 to 2007 cohort. Equally astonishing is that stillbirths also halved from 1% to 0.5% between 1988 to 1992 and 2003 to 2007. Deaths in the first year also fell from 2.6% to 1.2% when comparing between the two groups.

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Dr Henningsen and her colleagues who conducted the study believe that the findings produce some convincing conclusions. While there has been a considerable increase in the number of ART births since 1988, this has been accompanied by a significant improvement in health outcomes for these babies. In particular for singleton (as opposed to twin) births. Learn more about Post-fertility

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Comments Off on Can cutting down on caffeine help with male infertility problems?

Can cutting down on caffeine help with male infertility problems?

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Introduction

A new study co-authored by Dr. Jorge Chavarro, Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. Suggests that drinking coffee, or other caffeinated beverages, can have serious consequences for couple who are trying to conceive. Results found that couples undergoing IVF treatment had significantly lower success rates and effected male infertility where the male drank high levels of caffeine. When compared to those couples where the male drank the least.

Scientific Study

The study hoped to go beyond simple measurements of sperm quality (previous research has found no link between caffeine and a reduction in the measured quality of sperm) and see how lifestyle choices such as excessive coffee or alcohol consumption can affect the end result of a live pregnancy. The reason for this, says Dr. Chavarro, is to find out whether other unresearched factors, apart from simply sperm quality, have an effect on rates of pregnancy.

Research Statistics

As part of the study 105 men, all of whom were undergoing IVF treatment with their partners at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, were asked about their diets prior to enrolling on the program. While overall just over half of the respondents treatments ended in pregnancy.  couples in which the male drank the most coffee (defined as three or more 8-ounce cups a day) were half as likely to end in pregnancy as those couples where the male drank the least (i.e., less than one cup a day).

IVF Treatment

After adjusting the figures to account for factors such as age or obesity. The researchers still found that those males who consumed the most caffeine were, by far, the least likely to complete the IVF treatment successfully, ending with a live pregnancy just 19% of the time.

Conclusion

Indeed the study’s lead author, Dr Anatte Karmon, an obstetrician, continues to exhort current best medical advice. “Anything that is good for your heart health is also good for your fertility. So do physical exercise and eat a well-balanced diet. In any case, Dr. Chavarro warns against extrapolating from the results of this study too much. As far as we are aware, this is the first time this has been reported. There needs to be a lot more replication before anyone can make a strong recommendation to patients.”

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Comments Off on How Lifestyle Changes Can Affect Your Fertility

How Lifestyle Changes Can Affect Your Fertility

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Introduction

You already know that living a healthy lifestyle is important to your overall health. What you may not know is that it is also very important to your fertility.

Factors

Several factors can affect the quality of sperm and have an impact on fertility. Poor lifestyle choices can lead to issues with fertility so it is important to take a good, hard look at your drinking, smoking, and other habits and make changes if these can potentially be a barrier to you and your partner conceiving a child.

If poor lifestyle choices are affecting your fertility, now is the time to change bad habits and start making healthy choices.

Below are some lifestyle factors that may be hampering your ability to conceive a child:

Smoke

Smoking can have a negative impact on fertility causing a decrease in the quality of your sperm. Smoking tobacco damages your sperm cells and decreases sperm size and movement. It may also negatively affect your semen. If you are trying to conceive, consider talking to your health care professional about ways to quit smoking.

Stress

Infertility can be discouraging as well as stressful and the amount of sperm you produce may decrease if you experience excessive or prolonged periods of emotional stress. Stress can also lower your sex drive and make you less inclined to have sex further making it difficult for couples to conceive.

Obesity

Being overweight or obese is associated with male infertility and can lead to the quality and quantity of your sperm being lowered. It is important to maintain a healthy weight, eat a balanced diet, and incorporate physical activity into your regular routine. By doing so, you can keep your sperm in good condition and increase your chances of conceiving with your partner.

Alcohol

Heavy drinking on a regular basis is harmful to sperm and can decrease sperm production. Studies have shown that men who drink heavily and regularly have lowered sperm counts and testosterone levels. Alcohol can also cause impotence by decreasing the blood flow to your penis and damaging the nervous system making it impossible to have an erection.

Drug Use

Cocaine has been known to have a significant impact on fertility. Regular use of cocaine can lower sperm counts, motility, and leads to a substantial increase in the amount of abnormal sperm. Anabolic Steroid use is pervasive in our culture and can have long lasting effects on male fertility. Steroids severely damage the sperm and the sperm that is produced is much less active than normal. Even more troubling is that sperm production is virtually stopped when using steroids, making it impossible for users to get their partners pregnant.

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Comments Off on Male Infertility And Heavy Drinking Are Not A Good Mix
male infertility

Male Infertility And Heavy Drinking Are Not A Good Mix

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Introduction

Trying to conceive and you cannot figure out why you have not been successful. Heavy drinking may be the culprit. Learn more about male infertility in USA.

If you are drinking excessively, this may be causing problems with your fertility. Drinking too much alcohol is related to male infertility and may cause long term damage and reduce your chances of conceiving a child.

Medical studies

Medical studies have shown that heavy drinking done on regular basis causes damage to the male reproductive system. Drinking excessive amounts of beer, wine, and liquor harms the body and causes problems with your sexual health and fertility and some of these problems include the lowering of testosterone levels as well as negative affects on sperm quality and sperm quantity in men. Another problem alcohol causes for couples is that it lowers the male partners libido and can cause impotence. Men who are regular, heavy drinkers are more likely to have erection problems and long-term alcoholism can lead to permanent impotency. If you cannot have sex, you cannot conceive. Learn more about male infertility in USA.

Online Study

One study that focused on alcoholics and alcoholism found that only 12% of those men who were excessive drinkers had normal sperm counts and good health compared with 37% of non-alcoholics. The study found that as the amounts of alcohol consumed went up, the sperm count dropped, normal sperm shape decreased, and sperm motility became worse. Learn more about male infertility in usa

The focus of another study was IVF treatment and drinking. The study found that for every drink a man consumed per day, the risk of conception that did not lead to a live birth increased two to eight times. If the drinking habits occurred within a month of the IVF treatment, the risk became even more apparent.

Cell Report

Sperm cell damage, reduced sperm motility, and abnormally shaped sperm are affected by heavy alcohol consumption research has shown. Continued alcoholism can lead to permanent sperm cell abnormalities and prostate damage. Learn more about male infertility in USA.

Although there are studies that have found a link between excessive alcohol consumption and male infertility, other studies have found that there is no relationship between male fertility in usa and moderate drinking. So, what should you do? Drinking in moderation is okay although, if you are going through IVF treatments, it may be better for you to consider cutting out alcohol altogether during treatment.

Men who are trying to conceive a child should be aware that alcohol consumption could cause sperm abnormalities and a decrease in testicular function. Best practice, if you are trying to conceive a child is to limit your alcohol consumption. If you are going through IVF treatments, abstaining from alcohol altogether would be best for you and your partner. Learn more about male infertility in USA.

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