Infertility Help & How To Deal With It! Both women and men can have health issues that lead to infertility. It often increases with age and is not just a woman's problem!
Infertility Help & How To Deal With It
Both women and men can have health issues that lead to infertility. It often increases with age.
Is it just a woman's problem?
Both women and men can have health issues that lead to infertility. It often increases with age. About 35 per cent of infertility cases arise due to men's problems, and another 35 per cent due to women's problems. In around 20 per cent cases, both the man and woman have fertility problems. In 10 per cent of the cases, no cause can be found.
- Lack of adequate sex
- Use of sexual lubricants that interferes with the survival of the man's sperm.
- Heavy use of alcohol, tobacco or drugs
- Starvation diets or anorexia (in women)
Wearing tight underwear or pants (in men) raises crotch temperature and reduces sperm count. So does excessive exposure to heat, through saunas and hot tubs.
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) This bacterial infection in the reproductive organs may cause scarring, which, in turn, may prevent proper ovulation or obstruct the movement of eggs in the fallopian tubes. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) In this condition, ovaries generate high amounts of male hormones because of which the follicles are unable to produce eggs, causing infertility.
Endometriosis:
Tissue similar to the lining of the uterus spreads elsewhere in the abdominal cavity. In severe cases, the fallopian tubes get damaged, and the ovaries develop cysts that may eventually turn into blisters or scars. These then block the passage of the egg.
Hormonal imbalances:
A decrease in the production of any of the five hormones that regulate a woman's reproductive cycle may cause infertility. High levels of prolactin (that stimulates breast milk production), may prevent the ovulation process since it inhibits the production of two hormones (FSH and GnRH) necessary for ovulation.
Fibroids:
Fibroids, or benign growths, may form near the fallopian tubes or cervix & cause blockage, preventing sperm or fertilised egg from reaching the uterus.
Surgical complications:
Scar tissue left after abdominal surgery, such as abortion, can cause problems in the movement of eggs, resulting in infertility.
Illness
Diabetes, kidney disease, high BP and sexually transmitted diseases too may cause hormonal imbalances, and hence, infertility.
The Treatment
Women who are infertile due to their inability to release eggs are taken through various "stimulation protocols" - this can be anything from tablets (Clomiphene) to injections (Gonadotropins). Intrauterine insemination too (IUI) can be an effective infertility treatment. Women suffering from a blockage of fallopian tubes have to undergo the Test Tube Baby treatment (IVF-ET). Unfortunately, even if your husband is at fault, you will have to undergo the IVF treatment to conceive.
Source: Dr Rustom P Soonawala