Male infertility treatment is done by Andrologists, as men find it difficult to start a family. Male infertility needs to be treated by medical experts like Andrologists.
They may rather look for anatomical obstruction, hormone disorders, cancer, congenital undescended testes, or even genetic anomalies. Andrologists are similar to urologists as well as endocrinologists and deal with problems that do affect male fertility, such as penile functions and genitourinary disorders. Male partners with low sperm counts and/or even low sperm motility and/or abnormally shaped sperm, as well as antibodies against their own sperm, are classified as “male factor” patients.
Male infertility does refer to a sexually mature male’s inability to impregnate a fertile female. Male infertility is commonly caused by deficiencies in the semen, and semen quality is used as a surrogate measure of male fecundity. More recently, advanced sperm analyses to examine intracellular sperm components have been developed.
The management of male infertility is indeed a difficult task. In recent years, the booming use of artificial reproductive technologies (ART) has left Infertologists as well as Andrologists deciding whether to treat the person or the gametes. A basic andrology laboratory at present has, in fact, become part and parcel of an infertility clinic. Hence, treatment of male infertility has rather become institutional and collective for clinicians as well as basic scientists. The basic approach towards the management of male infertility does include confirmation of diagnosis and finding out the cause for which pathological, endocrinological, and biochemical tests are essential. It has been observed that specific defects causing Seminopathy have been found in several cases where treatment is straightforward and focused on the cause.
Infertility happens to be a devastating experience for both partners as they try to conceive. If a couple is unable to conceive, the woman has carried the stigma of infertility, yet men and women are just as likely to contribute to the couple’s infertility.
With the development of assisted reproductive technology (ART), the treatment of male and unexplained infertility has fallen on the shoulders of women. In order to equalize this burden, it is necessary to revive research on male infertility to both improve treatment options and also enable natural conception.
What more about Andologists?
Andrologists would indeed offer minimal andrological evaluation and condition-specific treatment. This could rather avoid or reduce the need for invasive as well as expensive ART. Andrologists could also choose the most appropriate mode of sperm retrieval. Undoubtedly, the availability of andrological services would, of course, improve the overall quality of care and reduce costs and complications.
Conclusion
Infertility happens to be a global health problem affecting one in seven couples. In half of these cases, the male factor is partly responsible. As a general obstetrician and gynecologist, it is important to be aware of modifiable lifestyle factors that do provide opportunities for therapeutic intervention, as well as sperm assessment and selection tests, including genetic tests, as these could alter clinical management in the not-so-distant future. Andrologists do focus on these issues when it comes to male infertility in relation to planning a family.
