Whenever couples face infertility, it is widely assumed to be the woman's fault, however, a medical doctor, Dr. Samuel Gyedu Owusu, has made it clear that medical research has shown that both males and females are responsible for 45%-45% of infertility cases.
He told myjoyonline.com in a recent interview that while women’s fertility depends on adverse conditions in four main areas: fallopian tube, uterus (womb), ovaries, and hormones, while male infertility has do with the condition of the sperm.
The five conditions that can cause infertility in men, he listed, are Oligospermia, Teratospermia, Astheneszospermia, Aspermia, and Azoospermia.
Dr. Owusu added that low sperm count affects a man's ability to get a woman pregnant and ultimately Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)may be required to improve a woman's chances of conceiving.
“When this happens, it means most of the sperm are dead. If something is dead, how do you resurrect them to work again? The best that can be done is lifestyle management and some medications to support it. Ultimately, IUI is required for the woman to get pregnant with the man’s most effective sperm,” he noted.
Dr. Owusu also explained that each sperm has a head, middle, and neck, however, in men with teratospermia, some sperms do not have a head, no tail, and no middle, making them appear deformed and abnormal.
"Other sperms come with two heads. This often results in just a few normal sperm in the semen that may not be up to the amount of sperm count needed to impregnate a woman. Deformed or abnormal sperm cannot fertilise an egg," he added.
He explained that astheneszospermia condition has to do with sperm motility.
After ejaculation, sperms are supposed to swim in one line toward the egg in the fallopian tube.
However, in men with astheneszospermia, he said the sperm either cannot swim, or they swim in various directions with some even flowing back out of the vagina, instead of advancing toward the fallopian tube.
According to him, when this happens, just a few sperm or none at all may swim toward the egg, therefore, fertilisation is not possible.
With aspermia, he said it is often referred to as dry orgasm. In this condition, a man may attain orgasm and ejaculate but with no fluid or semen coming out.
He outlined one of the causes of aspermia is retrograde ejaculation which happens when, instead of coming out from the penis, the semen rather goes into the bladder.
In azoospermia, Dr. Owusu said there is a complete lack or zero sperm available in the semen, so when a man reaches orgasm and ejaculates alright with enough semen but not even a single sperm is available in the semen.
Dr. Gyedu Owusu pointed out that adverse sperm conditions can be caused by dietary issues, the use of certain medications, and living in industrial areas where there is release of harmful chemicals.
“For instance, when you take cancer treatment, due to the toxic nature of the medications used in the chemotherapy, sperm may be lost, the same as it is for women and their eggs. And for those living in industry zones, inhalation of chemicals over a long period of time can affect their sperm quality,” he said.
He added that men with a history of mumps are at risk of being infertile because the virus that causes mumps attacks sperm and affects it negatively, same as testicular infection and testicular cancer.
Dr. Owusu advised men to avoid wearing tight clothes below the waist and added that exposing the testicles to heat can all affect sperm poorly.
He also urged men to make it a responsibility to visit the hospital with their wives when faced with issues of infertility.
“Men should avail themselves for semen analyses. Sometimes, they sit back and watch only the women go because they assume they are fine. But that is not the case. Most of the time, the women come, you examine them, and they are fine, but the men won’t come. To defeat infertility, both partners should be examined together,” he said.
JKB/AE
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