understanding male infertility

Understanding Male Infertility

Infertility effects one in every six couples who are trying to conceive. In at least half of all cases of infertility a male factor is a major or contributing cause.
This means that about 10% of all men in the world who are attempting to conceive suffer from infertility.
Historically, infertility has been considered a women's disease.
It is only within the last fifty years that the importance of the male factor contribution to infertility has been recognized.
The mistaken notion that infertility is associated with impotence or decreased masculinity may contribute to this fear.
The good news is that the rapid research advances in the area of male reproduction have brought about dramatic changes in the ability to both diagnose and treat male infertility.
The majority of couples suffering from infertility can now be helped to conceive a child on their own.

Etiology and Classification of Male Infertility

At present the precise cause cannot be determined in most men investigated for infertility.
Relationships between testicular damage.
semen quality and fertility are not strong.
Even genetic disorders may have marked phenotypic variation. For example with micro deletions in the long arm of the Y chromosome testicular histology may show Sertoli-cell only syndrome, germ cell arrest or hypo spermatogenesis.
A classification of causes of male infertility based on the effectiveness of treatment is shown in this classification the effectiveness of treatment means medical intervention known to or proved by clinical trial to improve the chances of the man producing a conception by coitus or artificial insemination and does not include the use of IVF or ICSI to bypass the impairment.

Classification Of Male Infertility By Effectiveness Of Medical Intervention To Improve Natural Conception Rate
TYPE OF INFERTILITY	FREQUENCY (%)
Untreatable sterility	12%
Primary seminiferous tubule failure	12%
Treatable conditions	60%
Sperm autoimmunity	7%
Obstructive azoospermia	10%
Gonadotropin deficiency	0.5%
Disorders of sexual function	0.5%
Reversible toxin effects	0.02%
Untreatable sub fertility	70%
Oligospermia	60%
Asthenospermia and teratozoospermia	45%
Normospermia with functional defects	80%
Non obstructive Azoospermia	40%
Aspermia	30%
High concentration of F.S.H. level	25%