Infertility
Information
(from the Mayo
Clinic)
Primary
infertility is the term used to describe a couple that has
never been able to conceive a pregnancy, after a minimum of
1 year of attempting to do so through unprotected intercourse.
Secondary infertility is the term used to describe couples
who have previously been pregnant at least once, but have
not been able to achieve another pregnancy.
Causes
of infertility include a wide range of physical as well as
emotional factors. Approximately 30% to 40% of all infertility
is due to a "male" factor, such as retrograde ejaculation,
impotence, hormone deficiency, environmental pollutants, scarring
from sexually transmitted disease, or decreased sperm count.
Some factors affecting sperm count are heavy marijuana use
or prescription drugs such as cimetidine, spironolactone,
and nitrofurantoin.
A
"female" factor (for example, scarring from sexually transmitted
disease or endometriosis, ovulation dysfunction, poor nutrition,
hormone imbalance, ovarian cysts, pelvic infection, or tumor,
or transport system abnormality from the cervix through the
fallopian tubes) is responsible for 40% to 50% of infertility
in couples. The remaining 10% to 30% may be caused by contributing
factors in both partners, or no cause can be adequately identified.
Increased
risk for infertility is associated with having:
-
eating disorders (women)
- abnormalities
of the uterus (myomas) or cervical obstruction
- multiple
sexual partners (therefore increasing the risk for STDs)
-
a sexually transmitted disease
-
a past history of PID (pelvic inflammatory disease) (after
a single episode, 10% to15% of women may become infertile)
- a
past history of orchitis or epididymitis ( men)
- mumps
(men)
- a
varicocele (men)
-
a past medical history that includes DES exposure (men or
women)
-
anovulatory menstrual cycles
-
endometriosis
-
a
chronic disease (such as diabetes)
Resources:
[Back
to Healthy Living Resources]
[More
Healthy Living stories]
|
H
E A L T H Y L I V I N G R E S O U R C E S
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
