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Chapter 7 - Infertility as a Metric of Men’s Health

from Section 2 - Clinical Evaluation of the Infertile Male

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2023

By
Jeremy T. Choy  and
Michael L. Eisenberg
Edited by
Larry I. Lipshultz ,
Stuart S. Howards ,
Craig S. Niederberger  and
Dolores J. Lamb
Larry I. Lipshultz
Affiliation:
Baylor College of Medicine, Texas
Stuart S. Howards
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
Craig S. Niederberger
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Chicago
Dolores J. Lamb
Affiliation:
Weill Cornell Medical College, New York
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Summary

Infertility, defined as the inability to achieve conception following 1 year of unprotected intercourse, is thought to affect 15 percent of couples worldwide [1]. Male factor infertility is suspected to contribute to half of all infertility cases, playing a sole contributory role in 20 percent of cases, while acting concurrently with female factor infertility in 30 percent of cases [2, 3]. Over time, there has been a steadily accumulating body of evidence in the medical literature suggestive of an association between male infertility and other comorbid medical pathologies, demonstrated not only in reported disease prevalence, but also in rates of hospitalization and mortality. Although the exact mechanisms behind these associations remain unclear, and multiple hypotheses have been proposed, implicating genetic, developmental, and lifestyle etiologies (Fig. 7.1). In this chapter, we will review the associations between infertility and comorbidities, as well as the proposed etiologies, in order to illustrate how infertility may be used as an overall metric for men’s health.

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Chapter
Information
Infertility in the Male , pp. 107 - 112
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

Further Reading

Choy, JT, Eisenberg, ML. Male infertility as a window to health. Fertil steril 2018;110:810–14.Google Scholar
Hanson, BM, Eisenberg, ML, Hotaling, JM. Male infertility: a biomarker of individual and familial cancer risk. Fertil Steril 2018;109:6–19.Google Scholar
Ventimiglia, E, Montorsi, F, Salonia, A. Comorbidities and male infertility: a worrisome picture. Curr Opin Urol 2016;26:146–51.Google Scholar

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