Dr. Veda Simons

Always wear a pair of comfortable laced-up shoes which support your feet, rather than high heels and slippers to prevent yourself from falling.

Infertility is the term used to denote the condition in which a person is not able to become pregnant/impregnate. It is not a natural state of a healthy adult. There are many factors which cause infertility among adult humans. Some of the causes resulting to infertility can be treated by medical intervention.

Types of disease

Infertility can be divided into two categories. These are primary and secondary infertility.

• Primary infertility is mainly found in couples who have never been successful in being able to conceive a child.
• Secondary infertility is different from primary infertility. It is found in couples who are not being able to conceive a child after having successfully conceived a child.

Causes of disease

There are many causes which results to infertility. Antisperm antibodies (ASA) have been considered as a reason for infertility in around 10-30% of people who suffer from infertility. ASA results in the interference with sperms. It affects the mobility and transport of the sperms through the reproductive tract of the female. Some of the factors which result in the formation of ASA in women are infections, disturbance of the normal immunoregulatory mechanisms, etc. Men may develop ASA if there is a breakdown in the barrier between blood and testis, surgery, trauma, infections, etc.

Signs and symptoms

The signs of infertility among women are as follows:

• Irregular periods: If a woman has irregular periods then that can be a sign of infertility. The periods cycle will vary greatly among infertile women.
• No Periods: Though women may sometimes have an off month but if the woman does not have a period for months at a stretch then that is a sign of infertility.

Signs and symptoms of infertility among men are:

• Pain in testicles and swelling: There are several causes for pain in the testicles and its swelling and many of these causes are a sign of infertility.
• Inability to ejaculate: If a man is not being able to ejaculate then that is a big sign of him being infertile.

Treatment

Infertility is often treated with the help of fertility medication. There are other ways of treating infertility as well. These include surgery and medical devices or even a combination of both. Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is used when conservative medications fail to achieve pregnancy. In ART techniques IVF is the most commonly used form. ICSI technique is used when IVF technique does not yield results.

Diagnosis

When both the partners are young and healthy and are not being able to conceive even after repeated attempts then the doctor may diagnose either one of the partners or both as infertile depending on the test results.

Diet

People suffering from infertility should consume more complex carbs, healthy unsaturated fats, proteins, whole milk, multivitamins, etc.