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Introduction
Infertility is a disorder of the reproductive system
that impairs the ability to conceive a baby or give
birth. Doctors usually diagnose infertility
after one year of unsuccessful, well-timed attempts at
getting pregnant. Usually 70-80% of couples that do
not use any birth control conceive within a year and
80-90% conceive within 2 years.
For women, the older
you are, the more likely you are to have problems
becoming pregnant and carrying a fetus to term.
Fertility rates slowly decline after age 30 and start
to plunge after age 35, mostly because the eggs
decline in quality. Women are born with all the eggs
they'll ever have. So as you age, your eggs age, too.
Eggs of older women are more likely to have
chromosomal abnormalities, which help account for the
higher-than-average miscarriage and Down's syndrome
rate among women in their late 30s and 40s. However,
donor eggs from younger women make it possible for
thousands of older women to give birth.
Causes
Here are the most common causes of infertility in
women:
Pelvic inflammatory disease is an infection of the
reproductive tract that usually is caused by a
sexually transmitted disease but can also stem from a
miscarriage, abortion, childbirth or an intrauterine
device (IUD). Among other things, PID can lead to
blocked or damaged fallopian tubes.
Ovulatory dysfunction means that a woman's ovaries are
not producing eggs or that egg production has declined
because of age, hormonal imbalances or other problems.
Uterine fibroids can interfere with embryo
implantation or fetal growth. At least 40 percent of
women have these benign uterine tumors, or myomas.
Endometriosis is a sometimes painful condition
occurring when tissue from the uterine lining occurs
abnormally in other areas of the pelvis.
Pelvic adhesions are usually caused by surgery or
infection. Pelvic adhesions are actually scar tissue
that forms between two or more internal organs.
Infertility can occur when the adhesions attach to the
ovaries or fallopian tubes.
Causes of male infertility
Some men produce either no sperm at all or too few
healthy sperm .Causes for male infertility include
exposure to toxic chemicals or radiation; a genetic
disorder such as Klinefelter’s syndrome; taking
frequent, long hot tub baths; alcohol, tobacco or
drug abuse.
Treatment
The ultimate goal of infertility treatment is a
healthy pregnancy and the birth of one healthy infant.
Just as there are many causes of infertility, there
are many types of treatment using hormones, surgery,
and assisted reproductive technology (ART). In
general, female infertility problems are more easily
treated than male infertility problems.
Medication or hormone treatments are often the
first steps in infertility treatment. They are
typically less expensive and less risky than invasive
procedures, and are used to:
Increase sperm counts in men with abnormal hormone
levels.
Stimulate ovulation in women who are not ovulating
regularly or at all.
Stimulate superovulation before an assisted
reproductive technology (ART) or insemination
procedure. Superovulation is used to increase the
number of eggs that are collected for ART or that are
present when sperm are inseminated.
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