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Male Infertility pp 227–245Cite as

Non-Specific Treatment to Improve Fertility

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Part of the book series: Clinical Practice in Urology ((PRACTICE UROLOG))

Abstract

Specific abnormalities causing defective spermatogenesis are the exception rather than the rule. Certain clinics may attract a biased population; thus, an endocrinologist may find that a large percentage of his patients are infertile because of an endocrinological abnormality but this will reflect referral based on cases of delayed or abnormal puberty rather than infertility. In a general infertility clinic no difference has been found between fertile and infertile men with regard to 17-hydroxyandrogens and oestrogens (Walker et al. 1975) and in the dynamic response to hCG (Traub 1981). Seven only of the last 662 couples we have assessed at our clinic had established endocrinological problems. We have searched for abnormal hormonal profiles (Hargreave et al. 1977), isolated FSH deficiency (Hargreave et al. 1979) and for hyperprolactinaemia (Hargreave et al. 1981) without success. The only common positive finding is an association between falling sperm density, abnormal testicular histopathology and elevated FSH levels; thus in the majority of cases we cannot identify an hormonal basis for the problem.

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  1. T. B. Hargreave
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Honorary Consultant Urological Surgeon, University Department of Surgery/Urology, Western General Hospital, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland

    T. B. Hargreave FRCS (Senior Lecturer in Urology) (Senior Lecturer in Urology)

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© 1983 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Hargreave, T.B. (1983). Non-Specific Treatment to Improve Fertility. In: Hargreave, T.B. (eds) Male Infertility. Clinical Practice in Urology. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3310-0_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3310-0_13

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