The Provost of the College of Medicine, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi State, Prof. Paul Ezeonu, has blamed the increasing rate of infertility among couples in Nigeria on bad life styles and excessive stressful ventures.
Ezeonu, who is also a consultant gynaecologist and professor of obstetrics, said although both primary and secondary causes of the problem exist, it has been proved that a stick of cigarette kills one million sperm cells while regular intake of alcohol, bitter cola, lipton tea and coffee as well as drugs such as tramadol, marijuana and lack of exercise contribute a great deal to causing the problem of infertility among couples.
The don also warned couples against the wearing of tight underwear, saying it negatively affects the production of sperm.
The immediate past chief medical director of the former Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, therefore, called on lawmakers at both the state and Federal levels to make laws to check bad lifestyles among couples, which in many cases negatively affect fertility among couples in Nigeria.
Ezeonu also advised health professionals to be mindful of how and who they prescribe hypertensive drugs to, stating that some of such drugs have negative effects on sperm production.
He called for measures to stop premarital s*x, abortion and to encourage faithfulness between partners in marriage to reduce the incidence of s*xually transmitted diseases.
The don further enjoined everyone to substitute the consumption of canned and processed foods with healthy natural foods, fresh fruits and vegetables.
Ezeonu warned women to stop using soap, disinfectants and tissue materials to clean their vagina because it changes its alkalinity and expose them to infections, stressing that they should rather use warm salty water to wash and sanitise their vagina on a daily basis to keep it neat and safe.
The don said, “In some men, when they were younger they have what is called mumps or viral infection that destroy the testes in such a way that the person does not have sperm at all. That is called primary axospermia. It could also be as a result of congenital absence of the testis. By congenital, I mean in some people the organ do not descend; you know the organ comes from embryological mesomephic duct and descends after birth. Some people’s testes did not descend as it should and they did not go to the hospital for medical assistance. The testis is outside to support production of sperm at a particular temperature. At very high temperature, the sperms will die. And if the testis did not come down and it was not brought down, there are some things to be done to bring it down medically. If you leave it like that, the patient will become impotent in future and many other primary causes.
“The secondary cause of infertility is about social habits. Smoking can cause secondary infertility in a normal male. One stick of cigarette destroys one million sperm. Smoking, alcohol, bitter kola, Lipton, coffee, marijuana, tramadol, all these stimulants and hard drugs affect the spermatogenesis, that is production of sperm. That’s why during investigation of the couple, we check both the male and female. It is 40, 40 percent and the remaining 20 per cent can be extra ordinarily unexplained.
“Again, s*xual transmitted diseases also cause infertility. If he has gonorrhea, syphilis, clamodial infections, bacterial or viral infection, it goes to destroy the cells of the testes. At times, it causes the perennial shaft to block; so the sperm can’t even come out.
Ezeonu added: “Stress, extra-pyramidal effects from the brain. High class people, who think too much on the hypertelamus; stress depresses the sensor that goes to the testis to produce sperm. So, excessive stress, some hypertensive drugs also affect spermatogenosis. You don’t go to the chemist and buy drugs anyhow, you must ask questions. Again men should be warned about wearing tight pants. It makes production of sperm very low.
“For the female, it could also be congenital in the sense that the woman in question has no uterus. But there may be small opening for vagina; the uterus is not there, the tubes are not there, neither are the ovaries. That will amount to primary infertility. It could also be as a result of infection. Secondarily, it could be as a result of abortions. So, that’s why people at their early age should avoid premarital s*x because of infection and its consequences. Most often, the women are infected because their bodies are open. So, these are the things intending couples should investigate. Fibroid is another problem depending on its position and size. Many of our women in Africa have it. There is both medical and surgical treatment for it. Women who undergo high stress are also affected just like the men.
“Infertility is so rampant now because people are so over stressed in all spheres of life. Women that have stress from the hypertelamus, when you start a cycle, for instance, there is a message like follicle stimulating hormones to go and stimulate the eggs to be ripe at the middle of cycle is burst and that is what we call ovulation. Now, if there is stress at the brain area of hypertelamus, the sensor (message) will not go. In other words, there will be no ovulation because there is no sensor telling the ovary to produce. There are also brain tumours, tumours at the brain pupitary glands that can cause infertility. Also in men, over stress stops them from getting sensor to produce sperm too.”
The don further said: “In this circumstance, I call on government to put in place a health policy to guide the youth because frequent different s*x partners will endanger their reproductive life. People should be adequately educated that constant change of s*xual partners will expose them to s*xually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea, syphilis, clamodia, HIV and even hepatitis. Both the singles and married should be faithful to God and their lawful partners.
“Again, women should learn to stop using soap, dettol or tissue materials on their vagina because it changes its alkalinity and might give room for infection like candidiasis, even without s*x with infected person. Instead of using the aforementioned, women should use warm salty water to wash and sanitise their vagina daily.”
