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When we hear the word "health", we tend to associate it with the term "feeling good". If one feels good, one must be healthy, right? If you're talking about reproductive health, the answer may be "Wrong!" Lots of things can "go wrong" with one's reproductive health without your ever knowing about it...
As many infertile adults can attest, there's a lot more to conception than most of us first think. The biology of reproduction is complex. Even if you think you know it all, read up again.
For example, did you know that in the world of gametes (sex cells, that is: sperm in men and oocytes or eggs in women), men have a chance to refresh theirs approximately every two to three months? On the other hand, women's gametes are in place and in total when she is born, and no new additions will be made throughout her lifespan. What this means, according to Dr. Geoffrey Sher, author of IVF: The ART of Making Babies and Director of the Sher Institute for Reproductive Medicine, is that men are slightly more off the hook when it comes to protecting their precious gametes.
"With the exception of long-term alcohol and tobacco use, which we know can negatively affect their healthy production," says Sher, "men are refreshing their sperm supply every few months. The effects of toxins like gene-damaging drugs {for example, LSD} are experienced more in the woman's eggs, in general."
While this is definitely a topic covered in most health classes, it's also one that's least often heard. Sexually transmitted (or venereal) diseases still carry the stigma that they happen to "other" people. The myth goes that if you're clean, well-dressed and groomed, or live in certain areas, you're immune from these common illnesses that travel via intimate contact.
Likewise, many folks still believe that in order to acquire STDs, you have to have sexual intercourse. In fact, this is not the case -- in some instances, exchange of body fluids occurs without penile penetration, and without the knowledge of the involved parties.
The sad fact is that one of the leading causes of infertility is blockage of the fallopian tubes, which is thought to occur most often as the result of some kind of infection. Chlamydia, an STD which has spread rapidly over the past few decades, is believed to be the number one culprit. Like other STDs, chlamydia does its damage silently, giving the infected person no clues that it even exists. Many women learn of their prior chlamydia infection only when they later attempt to conceive and are found to have blocked tubes.
PID, or pelvic inflammatory disease, is usually the result of infection by either an STD or bacterial agents. It may also occur as a result of pelvic surgery, IUD insertion, abortion, or delivery of a baby.
Unlike the typical, silent STD infection, PID can present with either mild or very uncomfortable symptoms, such as:
Can HIV cause infertility? Apparently the answer is "no", but the question remains whether or not a person infected with HIV is willing to risk passing the virus on to their future biological children through pregnancy.
© Tracy Morris
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