Infertility Among Men Not the ‘Silent Disease’ Once Believed; Infertile Men Have More Marital, Relationship and Sex Problems
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A new research study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine and led by noted men’s health researcher Dr. Paul Turek has a powerful conclusion: that men diagnosed with infertility suffer intense negative sexual, personal and social strains that might be considered typical for other medical illnesses, including cancer.
Traditionally viewed as a “silent disease” in men, the psychological toll infertility takes on men’s health was previously not well known by medical researchers. Researchers at the University of California San Francisco, in collaboration with Dr. Turek, a nationally recognized urologist, male infertility specialist and founder of the renowned Turek Clinic in San Francisco, conducted the study.
“Since male infertility is such a common problem, it is important to understand the real impact it has on male health and relationships,” Dr. Turek said. “This study makes clear, for the first time, that male infertility is a ‘disease’ like any other, silent or not, and can have a serious effect on the overall well-being of the individual, the couple, and the family.”
The study shows that the diagnosis of infertility increases social strain in male partners of infertile couples. Male partners in couples with perceived, isolated male factor infertility have a lower sexual and personal quality of life compared to male partners of couples without perceived male factor infertility.
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Tags : infertility, male
For more than four years, Joann Citrone of West Deptford, N.J., went through round after round of expensive infertility treatments. But it wasn’t until two years after she and her husband adopted their second child from South Korea that she was finally given a correct diagnosis.
She suffered from a common yet often overlooked condition that can lead to infertility and a host of perplexing symptoms — yet is easily treated when it is properly diagnosed.
The condition is nonclassical congenital adrenal hyperplasia, or C.A.H. — a hormone deficiency that leads to excess production of androgens. In women it can interfere with ovulation; in men it can cause low sperm count. In addition, it can lead to short stature, body odor, acne, irregular menstruation and the excessive hair growth called hirsutism. (Ms. Citrone, now 38, had some of these symptoms, too.)
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Tags : CAH, infertility
Atlanta,
GA, July 04, 2009 –(PR.com)– Recent research reporting on three women who were previously diagnosed as infertile but conceived following the introduction of chiropractic care reveals that chiropractic may play an important role in caring for families with infertility challenges.
The research, reported in the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health – Chiropractic, includes a review of the literature supporting the role of chiropractic in women experiencing infertility.
“Research is revealing that there is a relationship between abnormalities in the spine, the nervous system and the reproductive system” stated Dr. Joel Alcantara, lead author of the paper. “There are over a dozen case studies previously published that show successful conceptions and the delivery of healthy children following the introduction of chiropractic care and the addition of these three add further weight to the evidence.”
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Tags : chiropractic, infertility
What other projects are you working on, books or otherwise?
Right now, I’m finishing up a work of fiction. I needed something lighter and less research driven this winter/spring. As I complete that project and release that, I have three more non-fiction ideas that I’m tossing around. It is interesting because at the same time, I thought up four non-fiction projects that sat well with me and four fiction projects. So I would love to weave back and forth between the two — with the heavier topics being balanced by the lighter ones.
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Tags : adoption, infertility
(PhysOrg.com) — A University of Adelaide study has recommended that infertile couples seek advice about their lifestyle before embarking on IVF treatment or other assisted reproductive technology.
Gillian Homan, a fertility nurse specialist and researcher from the University’s Robinson Institute, says that while most people link obesity, smoking, drugs and stress to infertility problems, many infertile couples fail to look at their own lifestyle as a possible obstacle to conceiving.
Ms Homan says couples experiencing infertility should understand the role their own lifestyle can play in helping them to achieve their goal of a healthy baby. These factors should be addressed in collaboration with the latest ART techniques.
The reproductive health researcher surveyed 20 new patients from Adelaide fertility clinic Repromed to gauge their perception of how lifestyle affects fertility.
While the evidence of the impact of weight on fertility is very strong, only half of the overweight women in this study considered their own weight to be a risk factor for infertility.
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Tags : infertility, obesity
Simple test could tell women how likely they are to get pregnant, helping them decide whether or not it is worth undertaking IVF treatment The 30,000 women a year who undergo IVF may in the next few years be able to use a new blood test to tell them how likely they are to get pregnant, a conference heard today.
Scientists disclosed that they have discovered genetic markers in the blood which provide a fertility “fingerprint”. Although the research is still at an early stage, it could lead to women who are having fertility treatment being able to take a simple test that would help them decide whether or not it was worth undertaking treatment, which is expensive and both physically and emotionally demanding.
Researchers told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) that the genetic markers showed activity patterns in more than 200 genes which were different in women whose IVF treatment had succeeded or failed.
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Tags : infertility, ivf
London, July 1: A new study has suggested that minor weight loss in obese women could boost their chances of getting pregnant.
Professor Bill Ledger, from the University of Sheffield, and colleagues said conducted a three-month study of 40 obese women who were not ovulating.
Many of them suffered from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
The group’s average age was 29 and their body mass index (BMI) was around 40. Health service guidelines do not recommend IVF treatment for women with a BMI of above 30.
The women were given weight loss drugs to help them lose 5 percent of their body weight over a three-month period.
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Tags : infertility, obesity
This is the third of a four-part interview with Melissa Ford, author of Navigating the Land of IF: Understanding Infertility and Exploring Your Options. Melissa is also the author of the wildly popular blog, Stirrup Queens, the site many infertile people find as they search for information on infertility treatments, adoption (domestic, international, open, kinship), donor gametes, and childfree living.
Why would someone who is NOT experiencing infertility want to pick up this book?
To better understand someone they know who is experiencing infertility. I don’t know how many people who are not experiencing infertility will pick up this book, but that’s okay. The words are there for everyone to use who is experiencing infertility and they can pass them along in conversation with people outside the experience.
How different would your own IF journey have been if you’d had this book?
I probably would have felt less lonely. The exercises in the book I used to make decision and I included one of the real decision webs we made before we started treatments. And I took my sister’s advice to heart a lot and still do in living my life. But I wish I had known about the online community back then. It was small, but still existed. I wish I had known about blogs and read them.
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Tags : adoption, infertility
Sportsmen who carry out high levels of cycle training could be damaging their chance of fatherhood, researchers reported on Monday.
The research team looked at triathletes — athletes who run, swim and cycle — to further a probe into a long-suspected link between male infertility and long-distance biking.
They looked at semen provided by 15 healthy Spanish triathletes whose training routines were known in detail.
The more time the triathletes spent in the saddle, the worse their sperm fared, said the research team, which Diana Vaamonde led at the University of Cordoba Medical School in Spain.
“While all triathletes had less than 10 percent of normal-looking sperm, the men with less than 4 percent — at which percentage they generally would be considered to have significant fertility problems — were systematically” 180 miles a week on their bicycles, Vaamonde said.
No such link was seen for running and swimming.
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Tags : cycling, infertility, sperm
Washington, June 30: French doctors have unveiled a new technique for transplanting the ovaries of women who have lost their fertility as a result of cancer treatment.
The technique, described by Pascal Piver of the Limoges University Hospital in central-western France, has helped a young woman who had been menopausal for two years to give birth to a healthy baby girl.
Using a two-step process, they restored fertility to the woman after she had undergone chemotherapy treatment for sickle-cell anaemia, a disease in which red blood cells become dangerously misshaped.
Ovarian transplants, pioneered in 2004, entail removing an ovary from a woman before she undergoes cancer therapy. The organ is frozen and then thawed and returned to the patient after her treatment.
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Tags : egg donations, infertility
