The Causes of Infertility
Causes of women fertility problem :
1.Disturbance of the ripening of the egg.
The right hormonal balance is very important for conception. Hormonal imbalance can lead to the ripening of the egg being disturbed, to a lack of ovulation and to poor luteinisation (the process by which the ruptured follicle transform into the corpus luteum). Somewhat suprisingly, women produce small hormones of male hormones(androgens) in their bodies and sometimes increased amounts of these can disturb hormonal balance, often in combination with ovarian cyst (follicle like-structure).Hormonal balance can also be disturbed by being very underweight or overweight, large weight changes in a short period of time, extreme physical exertion, disturbance in the working of thyroid gland or in the secretion of the hormone prolactin, certain types of medication and stress. Hormonal assay will help to determine this cause.
2. Tube-related infertility.
Some of the childless women, the fallopian tubes are found to be partly or completely blocked. Most frequently, the fallopian tubes are damaged by infection (which might have happened many years before). Other possible causes are an earlier pregnancy in which embryo implanted in the fallopian tube instead of the womb (which is called an ectopic pregnancy) or adhesions following an operation or endometriosis. You can do HSG (Hysterosalpingogram) to determine this cause.
3. Endometriosis.
Endometriosis is the growth of endometrium (the lining of the womb) outside the womb itself. It is not known exactly how this occurs. It is probably due to very small amounts of the endometrium passing through the fallopian tubes to the abdominal cavity during menstruation. Here it may settle, causing adhesions between the abdominal organs and painful menstruation. Laparoscopy will help to determine this cause.
4. Antibodies against gamete.
These are an uncommon cause of fertility problems. In rare cases, the body does not recognize its own egg cells and the immune system forms antibodies against them. Antibodies against the man’s sperm in the cervical secretions are rather more frequent. As a result, sperm cannot enter the womb and fertilization does not take place.
5.Uterus Abnormalities.
A bicornuate uterus (a womb with two 'horns') is the most common. Instead of the womb being pear-shaped it is shaped like a heart, with a deep indentation at the top. This means that the baby has less space to grow than in a normally shaped womb. A uterine fibroid non-cancerous tumor that originates from the smooth muscle layer (myometrium) and the accompanying connective tissue of the uterus. Fibroids are the most common benign tumors in females and typically found during the middle and later reproductive years. They can grow and cause heavy and painful menstruation. Ultrasound scan will help to determine this cause.
Causes of men fertility problem :
1.Disturbance of sperm maturation.
The most frequent problem affecting the male fertility is insufficient production of normal, freely mobile sperm. Male semen (a mixture of sperm and nutrient fluids) is considered to be of normal quality if there more than 20 million sperm per milliliter (ml) (about half a teaspoon) of semen. Even in fertile men, most sperm are imperfect and many cannot swim properly, but at least 30% of them should be normally formed and 50% freely mobile. If these values are not reached, the man’s procreative capability can be reduced. However, even with normal sperm a functional problem may prevent sperm from penetrating the egg. The ability to produce healthy sperm may be reduced as are result of a mumps infection in childhood. Varicose veins in the testicles (varicocele) may also lead to poor sperm quality. Other causes are hormonal disturbances, stress, environmental factors, undescended testes or hereditary factors such as genetic damage. Infections such as flu may reduce sperm quality, but this is usually temporary. Semen analysis is requested to determine the cause.
2.Disturbance sperm transport.
In 4% of cases, sufficient semen is formed but cannot enter the woman’s body on ejaculation because the seminal duct is blocked. This situation is comparable with blockage of the fallopian tube in women. Possible causes are previous sterilization or sperm ducts which are underdeveloped or blocked by adhesions, usually as a result of a previous infection of the reproductive organs.
