Infertility can be defined as the failure to conceive after frequent intercourse. Both female and male reproductive functionality disorders are equally responsible for infertility in the young generation. In the present era, a vastly modified lifestyle to cope-up with the trend can be a considerable factor for infertility.
Female infertility causes
Females carry the fetus and deliver the child after the completion of the full term. Therefore, reproductive health is a very important factor in female fertility. Following are some common causes of female infertility:
Unable to ovulate: Aging, certain reproductive disorders including PCOS, POI, and hormonal disorders including thyroid problems are some common pathophysiological factors that influence insufficient ovulation. Apart from these, in the present century, obesity, as well as being underweight, are common clinical findings in females, which also reduce ovulation rates. To maintain a toned figure, females often join a gym and perform different strenuous physical exercises. Excessive exercise is also harmful to ovulation.
Menstrual cycle disorders: Absence of menstrual periods or amenorrhea or irregular menstrual periods or oligomenorrhea both can cause infertility.
Defective reproductive anatomy: Blockage of fallopian tubes unable to move the egg to the uterus for fertilization, whereas defective uterus structure can interfere with implantation.
Infection in the reproductive organ: Gonorrhea and chlamydia lead to pelvic inflammation that can block fallopian tubes. Cervix infection, human papillomavirus (HPV) infection can reduce cervical mucus quality. Delayed intervention and untreated conditions can cause infertility.
Malfunctioning of egg maturation: Obesity and certain other conditions like PCOS can cause malfunctioning of egg maturation.
Implantation failure: Genetic defects in the embryo, progesterone resistance, and thin endometrium are different causes to restrict fertilized eggs to implant in the uterine wall.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): Adrenal glands and ovarian hormonal disorders lead to the defective secretion of female hormones and cysts formed within the ovaries. Both the genetic factor and environmental conditions trigger PCOS development.
Endometriosis: In this condition, the lining of the uterus which is also known as endometrium extends outside the uterus. The changes in the chemical nature of the uterus lining cause difficulty to become pregnant after conception.
Primary ovary insufficiency (POI): Hormonal disorders of the pituitary gland and ovarian gland can cause failure to egg formation in the female ovaries.
Uterine fibroids: More than 6cm sized fibroids can block the sperm entrance into the uterus, blockade fallopian tubes, and even cause implantation problems.
Autoimmune disorders: Certain autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis interfere with female fertility.
Read Also: Poor Lifestyle and male fertility
Male infertility causes
Only 1 in 4 men has optimum semen quality in this present century. Semen quality depends upon the number of sperm and sperm mobility. The recent lifestyle patterns often induce male infertility by altering scrotal thermoregulation and sex steroidal activities and resultant of these cause poor spermatogenesis and reduce semen quality. Moreover, oxidative stress enhancement due to faulty lifestyle and undesirable environmental factors tear down the cellular structure of spermatozoa and also induces DNA damage. Altogether, these lead to abnormal spermatozoa production, poor sperm viability, and impaired sperm motility.
- In recent days, males often feel happy wearing tight outfits and undergarments during their office hours. But prolonged sitting posture in the office desk with wearing tight garments enhances the male genital organ’s temperature.
- Employees working in metal, glass, and ceramic industrial occupations are often exposed to high temperatures. Excessive heat exposure imbalances the temperature equilibrium in male genital organs.
- Scrotal temperature alters due to frequent showering habits instead of taking a bath.
- The application of pesticides in the harvesting and agriculture sector increases the scope of ingesting harmful chemicals through food ingestion, which can cause low-quality semen.
- Most of the males prefer to eat animal fats instead of plant-based foods and that can increase the risk of metabolic disorders and impaired reproductive functioning. Hormonal treatment to animals for increasing the production of animal-fat-containing foods also decreases fertility.
- Prolong driving due to traveling jobs, a long distance from the residential area to the workplace, and traffic jams increase body temperature and also increase atmospheric pollutant contact occasions.
- Increasing soy product consumption enhances the phytoestrogens level and alters human hormonal homeostasis.
- Processed foods and packed food items are rich sources of trans fat, which decreases sperm generation ability and poor semen quality by inducing metabolic disorders.
- Males have a higher tendency to drug abuse for muscle growth, sports activity, or recreational purposes. Unnecessary intake of synthetic chemicals can cause infertility.
Both female and male fertility ability diminishes due to frequent exposure to chemotherapeutic agents to combat cancer and infections. Moreover, radiation therapy and antibiotics can adversely affect sperm and egg production in the male and female reproductive systems respectively.
Ravi Sharma is a self-motivated, successful entrepreneur and has a solid experience in the fertility segment. and he is the director at ARTbaby Global (ARThealthcare). He is a pharmacy graduate with post-graduation in business administration and has 14 years of rich experience in the field of infertility segment. He loves to write about IVF, Surrogacy, and other ART (assisted reproductive technology) news, issues, and updates. He is a Pharmacy graduate (B. Pharm) and M.B.A (marketing).
His most recent success includes the successful launch of the medical tourism company, ARTbaby, which offers treatment options for infertility, egg donation, and surrogacy. He likes spending time with his family and writing about various aspects of IVF surrogacy and donating eggs.