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NOVEMBER, 2018 | THE HEALTH
O B - GYN
PFRCIVF.COM
Male infertility
Men contribute 50 per cent to infertility rates.
When consummating and ejaculating alone is insuffi cient
I
NFERTILITY no longer
concerns the female alone,
but one that involves the
other counterpart as they
account to 50 per cent of
the problem.
“Male infertility rates
has increased drastically over the
last 10 years,” revealed KL Fertility
and Gynaecology Centre fertility
specialist Dr Agilan Arjunan.
While he attributed the factors
to environment and lifestyle, he
stated that men are intentionally
or unintentionally being poisoned
over the last few years. What does
he mean?
Five factors that aff ects
the sperm quality of a man
“Smoking, as we know reduces the
count and the quality of the sperm.
Men have to realise that merely
consummating and ejaculating
alone is insufficient to impregnate
the lady. It has to do with the sperm
count which is the quantity and
more importantly the quality of
the sperm.”
“A male who smokes is able to
produce hundreds of millions of
sperm. Nevertheless, if most of the
sperm is dead or abnormal, it cer-
tainly would not be able to fertilise
an egg to form an embryo.”
He revealed that the condition
is irreversible although when one
should stop smoking.
“It all depends on the extent
of the damage that has already
occurred. Making lifestyle
changes in addition to not smok-
ing, taking supplements and
trying to improve the production
capability of the sperm might help
to a certain extent but it certainly
will not reverse back to normal.”
Secondly, processed food or
unhealthy diet has been shown to
reduce sperm quality.
“Studies conducted over a six
month period to a year on young
men from 25 – 30 years of age have
shown that the sperm quality and
count in those who consumed fast
and processed food was gradually
dropping. Unlike common believe,
men do have a biological clock.
After the age of 30, their sperm
count and quality drops drasti-
cally. The condition would worsen
if they have an unhealthy diet.”
Obesity
“Obesity is yet another factor
which is not only related to
infertility, but is also a contribut-
ing factor to numerous other
diseases like high blood pressure
and diabetes.”
“A man who is obese, he pro-
duces a lot of female hormones.
Male hormones are converted
into female hormones, and thus
reducing the sperm production
capability in him.”
Agilan attributed the fourth
BY DR AGILAN
ARJUNAN
factor to stress and revealed that
there are evidences to show that
stress is associated with poorer
sperm quality and also the count.
“More so, when the men is
stressed, it affects his sexual
activity which directly leads to
infertility.”
Alcohol consumption also
plays an important role.
“Binge drinking or too much of
alcohol has been proven to reduce
sperm count and also sperm qual-
ity. So, men have to watch what
they drink,” he said.
Apart from these factors, he
emphasised that a small propor-
tion of men actually inherit the
condition. A man who produces
less sperm (oligospermia) – five
per cent of them have a genetic
defect where the sperm produc-
tion is reduced.
The genetic factor
“Among those men who are not
producing sperm at all (azoosper-
mia), up to 15 per cent of those
men can have a genetic defect
in his male gene which is the y
chromosome.”
“There are few types of defect
and one of those is where the
sperm can still be retrieved with a
minor surgical procedure directly
from the testicle.”
“But there are other defects
that we know that even if we do a
surgery, the chances of retrieving
sperm is near to zero.”
“The other implication of
diagnosing men that carry
this defect of y chromosome
is that even if he goes through
an IVF and is successful of
getting a son, he would pass down
that same exact defect to the
son.
So, it is important that
they go through a genetic coun-
selling before going through an
IVF.”
Fertility health starts
from secondary school
Take care of your lifestyle.
“That doesn’t start in your late 30’s. Fertility health has to start
when you are still very young – even from secondary school,”
says KL Fertility and Gynaecology Centre fertility specialist Dr
Agilan Arjunan.
“This encapsulates your lifestyle choices, eat well and if you
aren’t a smoker - don’t start. If you take alcohol; try to stop or
consume in moderation. Lead a healthy lifestyle, exercise so that
you aren’t obese and take supplements.”