Causes And Treatment Of Infertility

The causes and treatment of infertility are many and complex. If you and your partner have been trying to conceive for more than 1 year without success, it is time to call in a fertility expert to pin down the cause and, if possible, develop treatments for the problem.

Major Causes of Infertility in Women

Endometriosis - this is where endometrial tissue is found in places in the uterus where it shouldn't be. It can cause inflammation and scar tissue in your uterus area making it hard or difficult to conceive.

Ovulation failure - if a woman is not having her period or if her periods are erratic, it may signal that ovulation is not taking place. This means that she is not releasing eggs from her ovaries. If no eggs are being released, pregnancy cannot occur.

Stress - it may sound unusual but stress can directly affect a woman's menstrual cycle.

Overweight/Underweight - both are bad. Both cause hormonal changes in the body. If a woman keeps her body's weight in the normal range for her height, she greatly enhances the odds of her becoming pregnant.

Too much exercise - a woman looking to become pregnant, needs some fat on her body. An woman athlete with body fat of less than 20% may be in excellent shape overall, but may be unable to menstruate. Until she gets her body fat up, she may be temporarily infertile.

Bad eggs - the bad eggs could be genetic, it could have been caused by some disease, or it could even have been caused by medical treatments (such as cancer treatments).

Major Causes of Infertility in Men

Abnormal sperm - if you look through a microscope, you'll see that sperm contains three parts - a head, body, and tail. If any of these parts of the sperm are abnormal, it may be incapable of fertilizing an egg.

Bad sperm motility - motility refers to ability of the sperm to move in a straight line. A sperm with low motility will be unable to swim to the egg. Fertility specialists look for sperm with a motility of 60% or greater.

Alkaline/Acidity imbalance - the sperm lives in an environment that is very alkaline. This is because once it enters the acidic vagina, it must be protected. If the alkaline ratio is too low, it will not afford the right protection.

Common Treatments Of Infertility

Once the cause of infertility is determined, the couple can feel a bit relieved in knowing that proven fertility treatments exist for the vast majority of infertility cases. It's true that in rare cases, the cause cannot be determined, but in most cases it can. The true barrier at this point, will be the cost involved to go forward with fertility treatments.

Some infertility causes have very simple and easy treatments like a change in lifestyle and diet. Some involve using relatively inexpensive fertility drugs. Men are sometimes just advised to wear less restrictive underwear and to minimize exposing the genitals to heat, while some women are advised to undergo operations to take out tube blockages and to take supplement to increase fertility.

More expensive options are in vitro fertilization or IVF procedures that will be very expensive indeed.

Folic Acid And Male Infertility
Some studies have linked a deficiency of folic acid and male infertility. It's a shame because this is a problem that is so easy to correct.

Herbs For Infertility
Many couples having trouble achieving pregnancy and leery of taking prescription drugs to help are looking at the available herbs for infertility problems.

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