Sterility / Infertility

Infertility is defined as a failure to conceive within one or more years of regular unprotected coitus.

Primary infertility denotes those patients who have never conceived. Secondary infertility indicates previoys pregnancy but failure to conceive subsequently.

Causes

Conception depends on the fertility potential of both the male and female partner. The male is directly responsible in about 30-40 per cent, the female in about 40-55 per cent and both are responsible in about 10 per cent cases. The remaining 10 per cent, is unexplained in spite of thorough investigations with modern technical knowhow. It is also strange that 4 out of 10 patients of unexplained category become pregnant within 3 years without having any specific treatment.

It is also emphasised that the relative subfertility of one partner may sometimes be counter balanced by the high fertility of the other.

Faults in the male:

Defective spermatogenesis
Obstruction of the efferent duct system
Failure to deposit sperm high in the vagina
Errors in the seminal fluid.

Pre-testicular

Endocrine

Gonadotrophin deficiency
Obesity
Thyroid dysfunction
Hyperprolactinaemia

Psychosexual

Erectile dysfunction
Impotence

Drugs

Antihypertensives
Antipsychotics

Genetic

47 XXY
Y chromosome deletions
Single gene mutations

Testicular

Immotile cilia (Kartagener) syndrome
Cryptorchidism
Infection (mumps orchitis)
Toxins : Drugs, Smoking, Radiation
Varicocele
Immunologic
Sertoli-cell-only syndrome
Primary testicular failure
Oligoastheno-teratozoospermia

Post-testicular

Obstruction of efferent duct

Congenital

Absence of Vas deferens (Cystic fibrosis)
Young’s syndrome

Acquired Infection : Tuberculosis, Gonorrhoea
Surgical : Herniorrhaphy, Vasectomy

Others

Ejaculatory failure
Retrograde ejaculation
Hypospadius
Bladder neck surgery

Treatments

Male infertility or sterility is also a rising cause now for the couple not being able to concieve. The cause of underlying should be found out and then stating homeopathic constitutional medications will help in curing the cause of the complaint. If the underlying cause of the complaint is alcohol or other drug dependent then those factors has to be removed. Homeopathic medications which help in such conditions are selenium, conium maculatum, staphysagria etc

Sterility / Infertility