Male infertility
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In 40 percent of cases, infertility is affected by a male factor--sparse or abnormal sperm, or problems ejaculating. A basic examination and sperm analysis often reveals the problem and less than 2 percent of infertile men are totally sterile.
Low-tech approaches requires some patience, because lifestyle changes to improve sperm work slowly.Eliminate or switch medications that could diminish your sperm count or quality. Eat healthy foods, lose excess weight and pack in foods high in sperm-protectant antioxidants, such as vitamin C. Get good rest, reduce stress and don't abuse drugs such as concaine or marijuana, which can temporarily (but dramatically) reduce sperm count and quality. Tight clothing does not dimish fertility, as experts once throught. But you should protect the tests from overheating, avoiding extended hot baths and steam rooms. Because pressure from a bicycle seat can damage erection-sensitive blood vessels and nerves, avid bicyclists should take frequent rests and use padded bike shorts. Deal with feelings of guilt, low self-esteem and anger, as well as intercourse problems such as impotence and premature ejaculation, with counselling and medications.
High-tech approaches include extracting sperm and preparing it for implantation. With a procedure called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), a single sperm is inserted directly inside an egg in the laboratory and the developing embryo is transferred to the women's uterus. Surgery to correct a dilated vein sound the testicle (a varicocele) can restore normal sperm flow.
>Can fertility drugs cause ovarian cancer?
Although the drugs stimulate the ovaries to produce more eggs, they don't increase the risk of ovarian cancer. At least that's the conculsion of a major 2000 study that looked at more than 12,000 women and was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
>What can I do with embryos I don't use?
You can have embryos (fertilised eggs) frozen for future use should not get pregnant the first time, or if you want to try for another baby later on. If your ovaries are damaged or you have a genetic disease you don't want to pass on, consider donor egg IVF, in which eggs from another woman are fertilised by your partner's sperm in vitro and then transferred to your uterus.
>Can I boost my fertility by reducing stress?
This hotly debated topic is under study in clinical trials right now. If a link is made, you may be left with the unsetting idea that your fertility program are partly your fault. Then again, programs that foucs on the mind-body connection using meditation, muscle relaxation, nutrition counselling and emotional support, along with changing negative thinking patterns, have shown some small advantage over not getting any such treatment. Bottom line: none of these techniques can hurt you and they may actually improve your overall health.
Medications
Hormonal problems such as irregular--or--absent--periods or long cycles are treated with clomiphene, which induces ovulation. To increase their odds, some women take it stimulate multiple eggs (and 10 to 20 percent of births resulting from fertility drugs are multiples.) If ovulation still doesn't occur, potent hormone stimulators mimic natural steps leading to ovulation and encourage the development of egg-producing follicles on the ovaries. you may first be given continuous gondadotropin-releasing hormone agonists to turn off your natural harmones so that the artificial ones can take over.
Taken by injection over several days, 'super-ovulator' drugs are typically used in conjunctions with various procedures. The follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) stimulates follicle and egg production. Chorionic gonadotropins mimic luteinising hormone (LH) to release matured eggs, ripening prospects for implanation. Progresterone, taken after ovulation, primes the uterine lining. While many women ovulate after taking these drusgs, not all get pregnant and the drugs are not risk free. Be clear on benefits and risks. Other drugs can correct too much prolactin ( a hormone that interferes with FSH and LH production) or induce a thyroid endocrine imbalance.
Procedures
With artificial insemination (AI), technology aids nature by placing sperm directly into the uterus by way of injection once or twice before ovulation and then during ovulation. It's a quick and relatively pain-free procedure, and is occasionally done without drugs. With all other forms of assisted reproductive technologists (ART), egg-stimulating drugs are given to encourage multiple egg-containing follicles to develop. Ultrasound examinations and blood tests identify when your follicles are large enough to contain mature eggs, and it is at this point that hormones made by the placenta, known as human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), are given to induce ovulation approximately 36 hours later.
For many procedures gynaecologists guided by ultrasound retrieve eggs from the ovary via a needle that is inserted through the vaginal wall. The egg(s) is fertilised with semen and incubated in a laboratory. Healthy embryos are then transferred into the woman. With in vitro fertilisation (IVF), the developing embryos are transferred into the uterus (see illustration below), to gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), sperm and eggs are placed directly into the fallopain tubes and fertilisation occurs naturally. An IVF/GIFT hybrid and an option if GIFT fails is zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT); here the laboratory-fertilised eggs are placed into the fallopian tubes.
Major surgery to repair such damaged organs as ovaries, uterus or fallopian tubes is considered only if fertility prospects are good. If available, minimally invasive laparoscopic techniques are your best bet so ask your specialist to explain the various options at hand.
With IVF, sperm from a man (1) and eggs harvested from a woman's ovaries (2) are combined in the lab to create embryos (3). When large enough, these embryos are transferred (4) to the woman's vagina using a catheter (5). Pregnancy occurs when an embryo implants in the uterus.
PROMISING DEVELOPMENTS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 40 percent of cases, infertility is affected by a male factor--sparse or abnormal sperm, or problems ejaculating. A basic examination and sperm analysis often reveals the problem and less than 2 percent of infertile men are totally sterile.
Low-tech approaches requires some patience, because lifestyle changes to improve sperm work slowly.Eliminate or switch medications that could diminish your sperm count or quality. Eat healthy foods, lose excess weight and pack in foods high in sperm-protectant antioxidants, such as vitamin C. Get good rest, reduce stress and don't abuse drugs such as concaine or marijuana, which can temporarily (but dramatically) reduce sperm count and quality. Tight clothing does not dimish fertility, as experts once throught. But you should protect the tests from overheating, avoiding extended hot baths and steam rooms. Because pressure from a bicycle seat can damage erection-sensitive blood vessels and nerves, avid bicyclists should take frequent rests and use padded bike shorts. Deal with feelings of guilt, low self-esteem and anger, as well as intercourse problems such as impotence and premature ejaculation, with counselling and medications.
High-tech approaches include extracting sperm and preparing it for implantation. With a procedure called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), a single sperm is inserted directly inside an egg in the laboratory and the developing embryo is transferred to the women's uterus. Surgery to correct a dilated vein sound the testicle (a varicocele) can restore normal sperm flow.
>Can fertility drugs cause ovarian cancer?
Although the drugs stimulate the ovaries to produce more eggs, they don't increase the risk of ovarian cancer. At least that's the conculsion of a major 2000 study that looked at more than 12,000 women and was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
>What can I do with embryos I don't use?
You can have embryos (fertilised eggs) frozen for future use should not get pregnant the first time, or if you want to try for another baby later on. If your ovaries are damaged or you have a genetic disease you don't want to pass on, consider donor egg IVF, in which eggs from another woman are fertilised by your partner's sperm in vitro and then transferred to your uterus.
>Can I boost my fertility by reducing stress?
This hotly debated topic is under study in clinical trials right now. If a link is made, you may be left with the unsetting idea that your fertility program are partly your fault. Then again, programs that foucs on the mind-body connection using meditation, muscle relaxation, nutrition counselling and emotional support, along with changing negative thinking patterns, have shown some small advantage over not getting any such treatment. Bottom line: none of these techniques can hurt you and they may actually improve your overall health.
Medications
Hormonal problems such as irregular--or--absent--periods or long cycles are treated with clomiphene, which induces ovulation. To increase their odds, some women take it stimulate multiple eggs (and 10 to 20 percent of births resulting from fertility drugs are multiples.) If ovulation still doesn't occur, potent hormone stimulators mimic natural steps leading to ovulation and encourage the development of egg-producing follicles on the ovaries. you may first be given continuous gondadotropin-releasing hormone agonists to turn off your natural harmones so that the artificial ones can take over.
Taken by injection over several days, 'super-ovulator' drugs are typically used in conjunctions with various procedures. The follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) stimulates follicle and egg production. Chorionic gonadotropins mimic luteinising hormone (LH) to release matured eggs, ripening prospects for implanation. Progresterone, taken after ovulation, primes the uterine lining. While many women ovulate after taking these drusgs, not all get pregnant and the drugs are not risk free. Be clear on benefits and risks. Other drugs can correct too much prolactin ( a hormone that interferes with FSH and LH production) or induce a thyroid endocrine imbalance.
Procedures
With artificial insemination (AI), technology aids nature by placing sperm directly into the uterus by way of injection once or twice before ovulation and then during ovulation. It's a quick and relatively pain-free procedure, and is occasionally done without drugs. With all other forms of assisted reproductive technologists (ART), egg-stimulating drugs are given to encourage multiple egg-containing follicles to develop. Ultrasound examinations and blood tests identify when your follicles are large enough to contain mature eggs, and it is at this point that hormones made by the placenta, known as human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), are given to induce ovulation approximately 36 hours later.
For many procedures gynaecologists guided by ultrasound retrieve eggs from the ovary via a needle that is inserted through the vaginal wall. The egg(s) is fertilised with semen and incubated in a laboratory. Healthy embryos are then transferred into the woman. With in vitro fertilisation (IVF), the developing embryos are transferred into the uterus (see illustration below), to gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), sperm and eggs are placed directly into the fallopain tubes and fertilisation occurs naturally. An IVF/GIFT hybrid and an option if GIFT fails is zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT); here the laboratory-fertilised eggs are placed into the fallopian tubes.
Major surgery to repair such damaged organs as ovaries, uterus or fallopian tubes is considered only if fertility prospects are good. If available, minimally invasive laparoscopic techniques are your best bet so ask your specialist to explain the various options at hand.
With IVF, sperm from a man (1) and eggs harvested from a woman's ovaries (2) are combined in the lab to create embryos (3). When large enough, these embryos are transferred (4) to the woman's vagina using a catheter (5). Pregnancy occurs when an embryo implants in the uterus.
PROMISING DEVELOPMENTS
- A small study found that the weak male hormone secreted by the adrenal gland, dehydroepianrosterone (DHEA), improved pregnancy rates in women unresponsive to ovarian stimulation. When the follicles were mature, DHEA was administered first and then continued while the women were given the normal FSH and hCG drugs.
- A blood test may one day outsmart the biological clock--or at least figure out how quickly it's ticking--by predicting each woman's menopause. With this knowledge, a woman can get a better sense of how long she'll continue to have productive ovulation cycles. The exciting research comes from Dutch researchers who, while studying sisters, found that the onset of menopause is largely (78%) determined by genetics.
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