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Some medications can play havoc with the sperm count or with the sex drive. These include:
Drugs for high blood pressure like reserpine, methyldopa, guanethidine, and propranolol; nitrofurantoin for urinary infection; corticosteroids; anabolic steroids for muscle building; and anti psychotic drugs.
A rare problem is that of anti cancer drugs and radiation therapy --- used to treat young men with Hodgkin's disease, lymphoma, leukemia and testicular tumours. In these men, the chemotherapy and radiation therapy used to treat the disease also wipes out sperm production, rendering them sterile. An option available today is to store the sperms (sperm banking) which can later be used for inseminating the wife to achieve a pregnancy.
The testicles are in the scrotum because they can't make sperm at body temperature - they need a cooler environment so they hang outside the body where the temperature is 0.8 degrees centigrade cooler. Tightly encased groins because of jock straps, tight jeans, lungottis, and nylon briefs cause the testicles to be pressed back into the warmth of the body and literally cook the sperm to death --- especially when combined with hot tub baths and saunas. Working in hot sedentary jobs for long periods like foundries, boiler plants and engine rooms may also cause a lower sperm count as the testicles get too hot.
In the past, doctors used to advise men to wear loose fitting cotton trousers and cotton boxer shorts; and apply a cold ice water soaked towel around the scrotum at least two or three times a day. However, it is very unlikely that these measures help to improve the sperm count.
These affect fertility by upsetting the hormonal balance and suppressing sperm production.Dangerous chemicals include: heavy metals, like lead, nickel, mercury; insecticides, petrochemicals, pesticides, benzene, xylene, anaesthetic gases, and X- rays.
© Dr. Aniruddha Malpani and Dr. Anjali Malpani www.drmalpani.com
Credits: How to Have a Baby: Overcoming Infertility
