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Male
Factor Infertility
For
far too long women have shouldered the blame, and the
shame, for a couple's inability to have a baby. The
truth is, male factor infertility, where a problem with
a man's semen and/or sperm keep it from fertilizing
a woman's egg, accounts for about 40% of all infertility.
Why so much attention is focused on women's infertility
and so little is focused on men's is a complicated issue
and beyond the scope of this article, but it is important
that any couple who believe they are having trouble
conceiving pay just as much attention to him as to her.
I've
seen several female patients who are baffled by their
inability to get pregnant. They've had all the infertility
testing available and everything is "normal".
They come to me hoping that Chinese Medicine can shed
some light on the mystery of their infertility, still
assuming that it must be their fault. I ask every fertility
patient if a semen analysis has been done, and if so,
what were the results? Did the doctor look sperm count
alone, or did he or she also look at the sperm shape
(morphology), sperm movement (motility) and the thickness
(viscosity) of the semen?
Some
men find they have a low sperm count, others find they
are producing no sperm at all. Another man's sperm may
be moving, but not moving forward as they ought to,
while yet another man's sperm may be shaped in a way
that makes it difficult or impossible for it to penetrate
and fertilize his partner's egg. The causes for male
factor infertility run the gamut from genetics to tight
underwear, but Western treatment is often limited to
surgery, IVF with ICSI (the injection of the sperm into
the egg) or sperm donation.
Structural
abnormalities aside (these are best treated surgically),
is there an alternative? Yes, but not a quick one. Sperm
take 90 days to mature, so any treatments or changes
made will take that long to show up in the semen. Even
then, one 90-day period may not be long enough to show
significant changes. When dealing with fertility, people
often feel they are running out of time, so the 3, 6
or 9 months it takes for Chinese medicine to produce
results may be too long for some patients to wait.
For
those who are willing, however, that wait may produce
more than just better sperm. Chinese Medicine treats
the whole man, so any treatment aimed at correcting
the imbalance at the root of his infertility, will probably
also produce positive changes in sex drive, sexual function,
energy, sleep, digestion and mood.
Lifestyle also plays a role in sperm production, so
I recommend eating well and drinking enough water, cutting
back or eliminating alcohol, caffeine and recreational
drug use, getting enough sleep and physical exercise
and learning techniques to reduce stress. As with female
patients, I work with men to understand how they can
add to treatment and hasten recovery.
The
bottom line? Men in couples who haven't been successful
in getting pregnant should have a semen analysis and
consider having a full examination by a urologist.
*This
article is not intended to diagnose male factor infertility,
nor is it a substitute for the advice of a medical doctor.
Pregnancy is never guaranteed, nor is it the goal of
treatment.
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