Homeopathy treatment for Infertility

What are the causes of Infertility?

Infertility can lead to various disturbances in the life of an eager lady or a couple. It may lead to emotional disturbances and depression as all around the infertile couple, people may seem to be getting pregnant easily. They may constantly feel that life is not fair and makes them believe that no one understands them, and may feel lonely and hopeless. Though most often a woman is blamed for infertility especially in countries like India, the cause of infertility may be present in both males and females. In fact, research has proved that when a couple presents themselves in a clinic for infertility, the cause may be present in female (about 30%) only, male (about 30%) only or in both (about 30%) and in some cases, the cause may not be known.

• Female infertility– When a girl reaches the pubertal age, the ovaries start releasing eggs periodically. The egg released is fertilized by the sperm in the fallopian tube and the fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus. The fertile period of a woman is at its peak between the age of 18-35 years of age. The causes for female infertility are usually due to problems in ovulation, tube, uterus or cervix which could be due to various reasons. Some of the primary reasons could be:-

• Polycystic ovarian syndrome: A disease affecting women usually of reproductive age which may include irregular periods, obesity, excessive hair on the body (hirsutism) and very importantly poor ovulation due to cysts in ovaries.
• Fallopian tube block: Any block in the fallopian tube (a tube connecting ovaries to the uterus) due to infections like gonorrhea, Chlamydomonas, etc.
• Fibroids: Tumors of the uterus may also reduce fertility in women.
• Endometriosis- a condition in which the uterine lining may be found outsid0e the uterus. In fact, endometriosis has been associated with dysmenorrhea (painful menses), dyspareunia (painful coition) besides infertility.
• Polyps- Endometrial polyps, a finger-like growth projecting from the endometrium (inner lining of the uterus)
• Hormonal – disturbances like hypogonadism, diabetes, hypothyroidism, high prolactin levels

Diagnosis of female infertility is done with help of pelvic examination, hysterosalpingogram (an x-ray to view fallopian tubes for ruling out any blockage, hysteroscopy (to view uterus), ultrasonography (to view ovaries and uterus for any tumors, cysts, etc.), exploratory laparoscopy, hormonal profile, cervical mucosal biopsy to rule out any antibodies against sperms.

Male infertility – for conception to take place, man’s sperm, produced by the testicles and transported by seminal fluid, has to combine with the ova (egg) of the woman. Infertility in men is primarily due to absent or low sperm count (azoospermia), poor quality of sperm produced (low motile, abnormal sperms) or poor semen quality which could be due to many factors.

Prime factors for male infertility are:-

• Undescended Testis or Cryptorchidism – a condition in which testes fail to descend from abdomen to scrotum leading to azoospermia due to higher temperature in the abdomen.
• Varicocele – a swelling of veins draining testes leading to complete absent or low sperm count.
• Infections- like mumps, gonorrhea, HIV, etc.—may cause inflammation of testes (orchitis) or the tubes and may lead to permanent damage like testicular atrophy
• Injury– to testes leading to rupture, torsion of testes, hematocele, dislocation of testes
• Antibodies – in few men the body may produce antibodies against their own sperms. This may be due to any injury, surgery, and prostate infection or idiopathic.
• Hormones – Hormonal imbalances like low testosterone levels, hypogonadism, hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus may also affect male fertility.
• Ejaculation disorders – like premature or retrograde ejaculation
• Other Factors – like exposure to radiation or harmful chemicals, exposure to high temperatures, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, stress, obesity, tumors, etc…

Diagnosis Most male infertility can be diagnosed with the help of semen analysis and scrotal scan. In a few cases, a more thorough examination may be needed. For semen analysis, the sample is collected after 24-72 hours of abstinence. While analyzing the sample, the volume of semen, color, sperm count motility, shape, etc…are checked. A sperm count of 40 to 300 million is considered as normal count if the count is less than 15 million, it is considered as oligospermia, and if sperms are absent in the semen it is known as azoospermia. At least 30% of the sperms should have normal morphology and motility should be a minimum 50%. A semen volume of 2.5-4 ml is considered normal.