MALE INFERTILITY IS THE CAUSE IN OVER 40% OF COUPLES WITH INFERTILITY PROBLEMS


According to a clinical study carried out by CREA, one in five couples has problems to conceive.

Valencia, March 16th 2015 – In Spain one out of ten newborns are conceived after their parents seek some type of medical advice. This means that almost a million couples in our country have infertility problems. According to CREA, Medical Center for Assisted Reproduction, based in Valencia in over 40% of cases the couple´s problems to conceive are due to male infertility as a result of low semen quality, pathology more and more frequent in our country. 

In many clinics most of the infertility studies are done in the female whereas the male factor is limited to a semen analysis and to make sperm fecundate by one Human Reproduction technique or another, but without knowing the reason why the semen is not good. Doctor Miguel Ruiz Jorro, CREA´s Co director tells that the clinic´s philosophy is that the male must be studied and treated the same way his partner does, as bad semen quality can be the reason of a general illness that can cause more serious consequences, such as endocrine, genetics, neoplasia… disorders that cannot be treated if they are not studied and also because if we know the cause of a low semen quality we could in many occasions, apply a specific treatment to solve it, avoiding in this manner to recur to more complicated Assisted Reproduction Techniques. The great majority of affected couples by male infertility that are treated in CREA finally are able to achieve pregnancy, thanks to the in-depth study and diagnosis of both members of the couple.

The diagnosis of the male factor is very simple for the patient as in the majority of cases is limited to the quality of his semen, a genital ultrasound scan and a blood test for hormones and genetics evaluation. “According to the results, in CREA we will know if a complementary test is needed to detect the risk of a genetic disorder and above all to choose the most appropriate Assisted Reproduction Technique”.

In this sense the DNA dynamic study, from which CREA is pioneer in our country, raises the success of assisted reproduction treatments as it detects the percentage of sperm with a failure in the integrity of their DNA, a factor that diminishes sperm´s reproductive potential. 
“Cases in which men present a genetic alteration in their sperm´s DNA are more and more frequent and cause the failure of assisted reproduction treatments and even repeated cases of miscarriage”. This diagnosis offers different solutions such as extracting the sperm before its DNA integrity is compromised, getting more chances of generating a healthier embryo with greater implantation capacity. This can be achieved thanks to the Annexin Columns Technique (MACS) which has allowed 60% of male patients with fragmented DNA treated in CREA to become parents. “A dynamic value of sperm DNA fragmentation gives us more useful and complete information than an isolated or static determination”

For all this reasons Dr. Ruiz Jorro insists in the importance of performing a clinical evaluation to male patients, not limited to a semen analysis because the sample can be normal in appearance but also have a high percentage of spermatozoids with fragmented DNA. In order to raise awareness about the importance of studying the male in infertility, it is advised to do a semen analysis in men between 15 and 35 years of age, as bad quality and furthermore low quantity of spermatozoids, can be related to difficulties having children but also to a greater risk of presenting a serious illness such as testicular cancer. “An earlier diagnosis together with a specific treatment could avoid important clinical consequences”, said Dr. Ruiz Jorro, for this reason CREA has been the first centre worldwide to recommend men to have a semen test done.