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Infertility
Types of infertility
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), infertility is divided into the following categories:
- primary infertility - a complete absence of conception despite regular unprotected sexual intercourse for one year
- secondary infertility - despite regular unprotected sexual intercourse for one year, there has been no new conception after conception occurred in the past
- recurrent spontaneous miscarriages / infant mortality - the death of live-born children before they reach the age of five
- “unexplained infertility” - an absence of conception caused by factors such as lactation, contraception, reduced sexual activity, or unknown causes
Assisted reproduction methods have given a chance of pregnancy even to couples for whom having children of their own would previously have been unthinkable. Its fundamental importance is shown by the fact that in the Czech Republic alone almost 5% of all children born are conceived in this way.
Causes of infertility
Reduced fertility and infertility have various physical causes; for some couples only one cause is possible, for others the problems are combined. It is reported that in roughly 10 % of couples, even with the use of the most modern diagnostic methods, the cause of infertility cannot be determined clearly.
Factors affecting fertility:
In women:
- hormonal problems
- endometriosis (the presence of the womb lining in other places too, for example in the abdominal cavity)
- cervical mucus that is too thick
- immunological rejection of sperm (a woman's immune reaction against a man's sperm)
- problems with implantation of the fertilised egg
- damaged or blocked fallopian tubes
- chromosomal / genetic causes
- premature menopause
In men:
- reduced sperm quality (too few sperm, azoospermia, poor sperm motility, poor sperm shape, unsuccessful penetration - sperm entering the egg)
- chromosomal / genetic causes
- autoimmunity to the man's own sperm
- damaged sperm DNA
- epididymal blockage of the vas deferens (blockage of the seminal duct of the epididymis caused by infection, blockage of the outflow of sperm caused by infection)
- intercourse problems (impotence, failure to ejaculate)
- vasectomy
- some medicines can affect sperm quality (chemotherapy drugs, anabolic steroids, spironolactone, sulfasalazine...)
General reasons why fertility declines
Women are having children later than ever before - the age of women who decide to conceive a child has risen significantly in recent years. Scientists have shown that the likelihood of becoming pregnant decreases as a woman ages - at the age of 35 the chance is roughly half that of a woman of thirty or younger, and it continues to fall with age.
Environmental factors, such as a polluted environment, take their toll on our health and the fertility connected with it.
Stress, alcohol, coffee, cigarette smoke, drugs and medicines, electromagnetic fields and radioactivity also have a negative effect on our fertility.
Some experts claim that the causes of falling male fertility are tight underwear, a sedentary job, and appliances that give off a lot of heat (for example the very popular laptops on the lap), which raise the temperature of the testicles and thus worsen sperm production.