Causes of male infertility
Men as well as women participate in the increasing number of couples who have problems with natural conception. In order to determine male fertility, examinations are carried out as part of comprehensive reproductive health care of the couple.
Causes of infertility in men can be divided into three basic types. These are pre-testicular, testicular and post-testicular causes. In addition, male fertility is influenced by genetic and immunological factors.
Pre-testicular causes
This is a condition where infertility is caused by insufficient development of the male genital glands - testicles. This is due to a number of reasons, such as genetic variations, tight clothing, cycling, horse riding, etc.
Testicular causes
In these cases, infertility is caused by inferior ejaculate in terms of the number of viable and motile sperm. Sperm can have a wrong shape, composition, etc., this is described as teratospermia. Lack of sperm is referred to as oligospermia. Complete absence of sperm in the ejaculate is called azoospermia.
There are many factors that can affect quality of the ejaculate. They may for example include previous infection of measles, malaria, testicular cancer, and other illnesses.
Post-testicular causes
Testicular function is normal in men with post-testicular cause, but sperm does not get out of the body. This may be caused for instance by obstruction of vas deferens, absence of vas deferens, prostate inflammation, faulty urethral outlet, impotence etc.
Genetic factor
This problem concerns both women and men who have some genetic defects or are their carriers. It often means that there may not be inability to get pregnant naturally, but extracorporeal fertilization is recommended in these cases to exclude the possibility of conception of a child with a genetic defect. In order to detect possible transmission of chromosomal defects, we offer the possibility of testing genetic compatibility of the couple with CarrierTest.
Immunological factor
Infertility caused by immunological aspects can affect both men and women. As a result of certain immunological problems, immune system can attack sperm or ovarian tissue. Couples with immunological problems often deal with problems of conception or frequent miscarriages.
In conversation with the physician, the couple responds to questions that are focused on occurrence of various illnesses in the family and during their own lives. The physician asks questions about used drugs or dietary supplements, frequency of sexual intercourse, operations performed, inflammations of female organs, previous pregnancies and menstrual cycles. Consult with a doctor the couple responds to questions about the occurrence of various diseases in the family and of your own life. The doctor will ask questions about medication or dietary supplements that are used by the couple, frequency of sexual intercourse, previous surgeries, vaginitis, previous pregnancies and menstrual cycle.
Semen sample must be collected for semen analysis in the laboratory. The main evaluation criteria include volume, appearance, time of liquefaction, total sperm count, percentage of motile sperm and percentage of sperm with normal shape.
blood examination
We investigate possible presence of sexually transmitted diseases (hepatitis B and C, syphilis, HIV) from the blood.
According to the results of individual examinations, the physician may recommend further diagnostic examinations such as immunological or genetic examinations, examination by andrologist, sexologist or other specialist.
This diagnosis is further recommended for the purpose of discovering and subsequently treating the cause of infertility.
