What Causes Male Infertility: Infertility is described as the inability to reproduce by natural methods, which in humans involves the inability to become pregnant, impregnate, or bring a pregnancy to term.
Male infertility can be caused by a variety of factors, including:
- Sperm production or function that is abnormal:
Undescended testicles, genetic problems, diarrhoea, or illnesses like
chlamydia, gonorrhoea, mumps, or HIV can all contribute to this.
2. Varicocele:
Varicocele, or the enlargement of the veins in the testes, is the most common
reversible cause of male infertility and is known to impact the quality of
sperm.
3. Problems with sperm delivery:
Genetic illnesses such as cystic fibrosis, structural abnormalities such as testicular obstruction, or trauma or injury to the reproductive system can all cause problems with sperm delivery in men.
4. Ejaculation disorders
Such as premature ejaculation or retrograde ejaculation, can also cause fertility complications. Retrograde ejaculation happens when the sperm returns to the bladder rather than exiting the penis.
5. Tumours: Both cancerous and benign tumours can impact the reproductive organs directly or indirectly through tissues that release reproduction-related hormones, such as the pituitary gland. To remove a tumour, surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy may be utilised.
6. Chromosomal defects
Inherited illnesses like Klinefelter's syndrome can cause male reproductive organs to develop abnormally. The guy in Klinefelter's syndrome is born with an extra X chromosome rather than a Y chromosome.
7. Certain drugs
Such as those used in testosterone replacement treatment, chemotherapy, antifungal medications, and long-term anabolic steroid use, might reduce male fertility and affect sperm production.
INFERTILITY IN TESTICULAR CANCER
Testicular cancer causes infertility in men, either as a result of the cancer itself, pre-existing illnesses that are risk factors for this cancer, or the treatment of testicular or other forms of cancers.
The following sections explain how testicular cancer affects fertility and how to treat it.
Orchidectomy
It is the surgical removal of a testicle that has been impacted by malignancy. The cancer usually affects just one testicle, and its removal has no effect on the capacity to father children. However, in certain circumstances, the surviving testicle may not function properly, resulting in a decline in fertility.
RPLND (retroperitoneal lymph node dissection)
It is a surgical surgery for removing abdominal lymph nodes, which is used to treat testicular cancer as well as to determine the stage and type of disease. Testicular cancer can spread to lymph nodes in the retroperitoneum, which is one of the most common sites for metastasis.
RPLND is a long and arduous procedure, and the surgeon will steer clear of the nerves to avoid damaging them. In men, however, nerve injury or removal might result in retrograde ejaculation. Retrograde ejaculation has no effect on a person's fertility; it only affects their ability to bear children through normal intercourse.
It may be possible to harvest sperm from a male's testes or urine and utilise it to fertilise a partner either directly or through in vitro fertilisation.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy works by destroying the body's rapidly dividing cells, which are frequently malignant cells. Sperm cells divide rapidly as well, making them vulnerable to chemotherapy harm. It normally causes temporary infertility that returns to normal after a few months of chemotherapy, but in certain situations, the patient may not be able to recover.
If immature cells in the testicles that develop into sperm cells are destroyed to the point where they are unable to create maturing sperm cells, it might result in permanent infertility.
Radiotherapy is the process of irradiating the tumour site with high-intensity radiation in order to eliminate cancer cells. When radiation is used to treat lymph nodes in the abdomen for testicular cancer, there is a slight chance that the testicles will receive a small dose of radiation, even if a lead shield is applied to stop it.
It is recommended that you do not try to father any children while undergoing radiation and for at least a year afterward. Because sperm are regularly produced in a healthy testicle, adverse effects from treatment endure only a few months.
