Overview
“Pregnancy is God’s gift to a woman as she has an absolute power to create life”. It’s a unique and wonderful experience for both the parents. Any problem in getting pregnant can really make the couple to face serious conditions like low self esteem, marital problems and depression. Infertility has serious implications on the mental and social health of a couple.Infertility is a condition in which a woman is unable to produce off spring. In this, a lady fails to conceive after trying for more than a year. For getting pregnant, a woman’s body must release an egg from the ovaries and it travels through fallopian tube towards the womb. Man’s sperm gets fused with the egg and fertilized egg must attach to the inside of the uterus. This is the whole process of conception. When a woman conceives, she carries the pregnancy to full term. Any obstruction in any of these steps can cause infertility. Infertility can’t be restricted to females only even men can be impotent or infertile.
Read moreInfertility can be of many types, some of them are:
What are the causes of infertility?
Infertility in men can occur due to genetic defects such as DNA damage and other infections like mumps and varicocele. Premature and retrograde ejaculation and some medications like steroids or narcotic analgesics can cause problem in release of sperm.
Infertility in women can occur due to hormonal disorders like polycystic ovary syndrome and other uterine or cervical disorders. Any blockage in fallopian tubes doesn’t allow the joining of sperm and ovum thus obstructs the fertilization process.
What are the risk factors for infertility?
There are certain risk factors that contribute to this condition are as follows:
When should a couple seek help?
After trying for more than one year, when a couple fails to achieve conception then there is a need to consult a gynecologist or fertility specialist. There are certain conditions in which there is need to seek help such as:
What are the diagnostic measures?
Diagnosing the underlying problem is the most important factor in determining the root cause of infertility. Fertility of woman is tested by the gynecologist and various tests are done such as
In case of Men, the following tests are done such as:
What are the treatment options available?
Treatment of infertility is a complex blend of drugs and surgeries. There are various treatment options available like medication, reproductive therapy, artificial insemination or assisted reproductive technology.
Medication therapy is used to correct the irregular cycle of menstrual periods. The first line of treatment is an oral medication if the basic cause is not related to ovulation problems. These drugs produce regular menstrual cycle. Other medical remedy is Gonadotropin therapy that helps in inducing ovulation. This is injected every day for almost one week and along with this close monitoring is done by taking blood tests and ultrasounds
Some oral medications are as follows:
If oral medications fail to cause conception, then couples have other techniques such as:
For the treatment of male infertility, drugs are given in case of erectile dysfunction or retrograde ejaculation. Surgical procedures are also adopted such as:
Also read: HCG Vaccines: Best way to Deal with Infertility in Women