Degrees of male infertility, primary and secondary infertility in women
Infertility is the inability of a person of reproductive age to conceive a child. A couple is considered infertile if the woman does not become pregnant within 12 months of regular sexual life without using contraceptives. Therefore, you should contact a gynecologist at a fertility treatment clinic already a year after unsuccessful attempts to conceive.
According to the WHO, 60 to 80 million people suffer from infertility in the world. In Russia, about 25% of married couples experience certain difficulties with conception. It was estimated in 1997 that between three and seven percent of all heterosexual couples were unable to resolve their infertility problem. Statistics claim that 20-30% of infertility cases are due to male infertility, 20-35% to female infertility, and 25-40% to "combined" problems, when both are "culprits". In 10-20% of cases, the causes of infertility are not established.
Many forms of infertility are successfully treated. For example, the so-called psychological infertility is treated with the help of special methods of psychoanalysis. It is often enough to identify and analyze the causes of the psychological "ban on pregnancy".
Causes of female infertility
Among the causes of infertility, there are disorders in the reproductive sphere, various pathological conditions, hormonal imbalance in the body. The most common cause of female infertility is ovulatory problems, which are usually manifested in a violation of the menstrual cycle. Male infertility is most often associated with the inferiority of spermatozoa.
Causes of female infertility:
- absence of ovulation, which makes conception impossible;
- dysfunction of the endocrine glands, which leads to hormonal imbalance;
- obstruction of fallopian tubes;
- endometriosis;
- adhesion process in the small pelvis;
- polycystic ovary;
- uterine pathologies (fibroma, myoma, polyps, endometritis, infantile uterus and others);
- allergic reaction to sperm (immunological infertility);
- mental trauma or phobias (psychological infertility).
Factors of secondary infertility include:
- transferred gynecological operations;
- complications after abortions;
- inflammatory diseases of the pelvic organs;
- hormonal disorders;
- age;
- wrong lifestyle.
Analyses for the diagnosis of "infertility" in men
There are two degrees of male infertility. Infertility of the first degree means the inability to conceive a child throughout life. The second degree of infertility occurs in men who have lost the ability to have children, but who already have children or their partners have previously become pregnant from them.
Causes of male infertility:
- Testicular, in which the testicles produce spermatozoa in small quantities and/or of poor quality. Possible causes: varicocele, genetic defects, abnormal set of chromosomes, Klinefelter's syndrome, cryptorchidism, trauma, hydrops, complications after mumps, idiopathic oligospermia, and others.
- Pretesticular, which are caused by hormonal imbalance, some somatic diseases, bad habits: obesity, celiac disease, narcotic substances, alcohol, smoking, drugs that affect spermatogenesis (anabolic steroids, cimetidine, spironolactone, sulfasalazine), age and other factors.
- Posttesticular, which reduce male fertility due to anatomical features and problems with ejaculation: prostatitis, retrograde ejaculation, impotence, and so on.
Diagnosis of infertility begins with the study of the patient's history and examination. Analyzes for the diagnosis of "infertility" in men include: spermogram, hormonal and infectious screening, genetic and immunological research. A spermogram allows you to determine the approximate number of normal spermatozoa and their motility.
When evaluating sperm, the following terms are used:
- normozoospermia - normal indicators;
- oligozoospermia – decrease in sperm concentration in semen;
- azoospermia – absence of spermatozoa in semen;
- teratospermia – the number of spermatozoa with normal morphology is less than 30%;
- asthenozoospermia – reduced sperm motility (less than 25%).
There are also various combinations of these conditions, such as teratoasthenozoospermia, in which spermatozoa with abnormal morphology predominate, as well as reduced sperm motility.
Infertility treatment
The treatment method depends on the cause of infertility. So, in case of hormonal disorders, drugs are prescribed to normalize the hormonal background. With some pathologies of the uterus, obstruction of the fallopian tubes, conservative treatment is ineffective or ineffective, so surgical intervention is indicated. Diagnostic laparoscopy for signs of infertility in women helps not only to establish the cause of the pathology, but also often to eliminate it.
For psychological infertility effective methods of psychoanalysis, art therapy, hypnosis. How to treat immunological infertility? Temporary condom therapy is used to reduce sensitization. They practice immunosuppressive therapy, when small doses of corticosteroids are taken for a course of 2-3 months, and a shock dose before ovulation.
If conception did not occur after conservative treatment, doctors suggest undergoing the in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure, which is quite an effective method. Or try other methods of assisted reproductive technology. 60% of patients succeed in getting pregnant through IVF with tubal infertility the first time, that is, more than half of infertile couples become parents. Read more about this procedure on our website Dobrobut.com.
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