Causes of Male Infertility

What causes infertility – Some of the causes of male infertility is as follows:

• Abnormal sperm production or function may lead to infertility condition.
• Poor quality semen causes infertility.
• Overexposure to environmental factors causes infertility – smoking, alcohol, tobacco use, and stress, prolonged exposure to heat or chemical fumes, use of recreational drugs or anabolic steroids.
• Decreased sexual activity causes infertility.
• Genetic abnormalities like Y chromosome micro deletion, Klinifelter’s syndrome.
• Damage because of some co-existing disease or cancer or its treatment can be the infertility causes.
• Hormone abnormalities cause infertility.
• Surgical problems like Varicocele, Hydrocele etc.
• If the testicles are damaged, it causes infertility.
• Side effect of certain drugs causes infertility.
• Complete absence of sperm in the semen.
• Can be because of complete or partial damage of testis causing either no sperm production or very little sperm production (not enough to travel through to the ejaculate).
• Hypothalamus – Pituitary Dysfunction.
• Complete blockage or absence of the tube taking the sperm from the testis to the penis.

Female Infertility Causes

Female infertility causes can be the following:

• Ovulation disorder causes infertility – This is the most common cause of female infertility. Female infertility can also because of endocrinological problems like Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), Thyroid disorders, Hyperprolactinemia, or other hormonal problems.
• Fallopian tube damage or blockage causes infertility – It can be in the form of complete tubal blockage or dysfunction in the tube because of several causes like infections, surgery, pelvic adhesions, distortion of the pelvis anatomy etc.
• Pelvic factors – Issues like Endometriosis, uterine fibroids and cysts that distort the pelvic anatomy and make it difficult for the sperm and egg to meet each other or the embryo to implant in the uterus. This condition causes infertility. Problems like endometriosis can cause severe pelvic adhesions. This is one of the causes of female infertility.
• Primary ovarian insufficiency – Either premature ovarian ageing or failure can happen because of several factors like genetic problems, endometriosis, multiple ovarian surgeries. It can also be idiopathic.
• The mucus in your cervix may not be thin enough for sperm to swim easily while you are ovulating causes infertility condition.
• Low level of testosterone causes infertility and the condition is known as Hypogonadism.

Fertility and Risk Factors

Some of the other risk factors and fertility causes are:

• Age is the most important factor that influences the potential for pregnancy in a female. As the age increases the ovarian reserve (total no of eggs) in the ovary will significantly come down (especially after 33 years) and there seems to be issues in women like fibroid, endometriosis etc which are more common in women of this age group. These factors combined together will decrease the chances of pregnancy as the age increases and it falls to a critical level after the female becomes 40 years. The age factor causes infertility condition.
• Being overweight or underweight, both seems to make getting pregnant more difficult. It is mainly because of its influence on the ovulation of the women. It is important that the females follow a healthy lifestyle and diet while they are trying to get pregnant.
• Tobacco use or alcohol intake seen as a rising risk factor causing infertility to females looking to get pregnant.