Male infertility is often underrated when couples sink into the despondency of being barren. Why do women always bear the brunt of infertility or why are they compelled to seek a fertility specialist’s attention before their spouses? Traditional cultures pertinent to sex-selective abortion, female feticide, male sovereignty, sonship, and male child favoritism have been the roots of this nugatory and spurious gender inequality in India.
Disappointingly, this male superiority has forced Indian men to pay the price in the form of overlooked infertility problems and corresponding health issues.
10 Myths and Truths of Male Infertility (for the dummies)
1. Myth: It affects only women.
1. Truth: It affects both sexes in equal numbers.
2. Myth: It is repaired in female bodies.
2. Truth: It’s an individual problem, women cannot be blamed alone.
3. Myth: Men do accept it.
3. Truth: Culturally, infertile men don’t consider their problem.
4. Myth: Men freely discuss about it.
4. Truth: Men still consider it as a taboo.
5. Myth: The problem is only with women.
5. Truth: In 50% of the cases, the problem is with men.
6. Myth: Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) is same as In vitro fertilization (IVF).
6. Truth: No. ICSI takes place outside the female body unlike IVF and includes harsh drug regimen for women.
7. Myth: ICSI is safe.
7. Truth: No. It is exposed to the risk of chromosomal and genetic abnormalities.
8. Myth: ICSI should be the primary and right approach.
8. Truth: No, because only 10% of the causes associate with mechanical blockages and genetic problems.
9. Myth: It has nothing to do with obesity.
9. Truth: False. Obesity is linked with abnormal sperm morphology, lower sperm concentration, etc.
10. Myth: Weight loss cannot resolve the problem.
10. Truth: Healthy lifestyle and weight loss can improve the chance of conception.
Although men will deliberately or out of insecurity shy away from seeking medical help for their infertility, a medical expert’s study shows how the problem could get them into the doctor’s office for other underlying medical problems.
Male Infertility as Biomarker for Underlying Problems
Dr. Paul Turek, an international expert and medical head over clinics in San Francisco and Los Angeles, revealed that men with low sperm counts are simply less healthy than the average man for many reasons. “We’re learning that men with low sperm counts are just plain unhealthier than men with normal sperm counts and men with infertility tend to die sooner.”
Turek’s medical efforts along with some studies explain how infertility could be a linker to higher health risks and problems such as prostate cancer and cardiac illnesses. “We’ve known for 10 years now that if you have organic problems with an erection in your 40s, your risk of heart disease and heart attack is twice as high as a guy who doesn’t have that problem. The risk is the same as if you were a smoker or someone in your family has a history of heart disease.”
Lastly, while the treatment for male infertility is much underrated, although it’s a contributing aspect in half of couples, only women seem to receive medical attention from a specialist than their spouses, Turek adds.
8 Genesises of Male Infertility
Now that you’re convinced with infertility being a reproduction inability not only in females but males too, let us go to the root causes of male infertility so that the men know what to avoid and what not to.
1. Anemia and malnutrition:
Beware of them.
2. Steroids:
These may give you temporary boost to your stamina or help pump your muscles, but they won’t do you any good down there. Your testicles could shrink leaving you incapable of making your spouse bear a child.
3. Skintight underpants:
Wearing those tight-fitting underpants affects your scrotum negatively, thereby reducing the sperm production due to the heat created.
4. Smoking:
Your sperms are supposed to move actively and spontaneously which is defined as sperm cell motility. Smoking (of any kind) can not only decrease motility but also sperm count.
5. Heavy workout:
Continuous periods of intense workout could also render a man infertile because this causes testosterone deficiency as adrenal steroid hormones get produced in a huge amount.
6. Drugs:
Marijuana and other recreational drugs when used for extended periods could lead to infertility in men.
7. Bad diet:
Any diet without adequate amount of zinc and vitamin C could also make a man infertile.
8. Alcohol:
Falling on the same lines as tobacco and nicotine, alcohol abuse is another major genesis of the problem.
Did You Know these Facts About Sperm?
1. Most of the sperm ejaculated is malformed:
While normal sperm have an oval head and long tail, some sperm with defects may have disfiguration of the head, neck, or tail resulting into coiled tail, two heads, or two tails. Note that these sperm defects do not mean the man is infertile. However, they potentially disturb the sperm arrangement potentially to reach the egg and fertilize it.
2. Sperm and semen are not same:
Sperm cells actually makeup semen along with a mix of body fluids. The fluids contain fructose and proteolytic enzymes that facilitate sperm mobility.
3. Sperm are not warm:
Testicles stay cooler than the rest of the body by 7° F which necessarily helps to keep healthy sperm chilled.
4. Sperm are made in 2 months:
Sperm regeneration in the testes requires 2-3 months. Until and unless a new set of sperm matures, healthy sperm will not be able to fertilize an egg.
5. Sperm come in both sexes:
Sperm are not chromosomally male alone. Some carry the X chromosome while others carry the Y chromosome. The female sperm is studied to be stronger than the male sperm.
6. Dead sperm can create healthy fetus:
Yes, it’s possible with in vitro fertilization (IVF).
7. One testicle can produce sufficient sperm:
Men with one testicle (for various reasons) are as fertile as those with both testicles. One testicle is able to produce enough sperm to make a woman pregnant.
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