regularly checked and are constantly reminded of how their lifestyle choices around pregnancy could affect their babies , as highlighted in Yale sociologist Rene Almeling ’ s book , Guynecology : The Missing Science of Men ’ s Reproductive Health .
“ In contrast , there is still no cohesive medical specialty devoted solely to men ’ s reproductive health , no recommendations that men have their reproductive organs examined regularly , no public health campaigns about the male biological clock , and no government labels warning men about the toxic effects of alcohol and drugs on sperm ,” she wrote , highlighting that the men she interviewed were mostly unaware of the risks .
Yet recent research has indicated male health plays a significant role in reproduction as it affects both children ’ s health and the chances of conceiving .
A 2019 study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology shows that the risk of congenital heart defects in babies increases by 74 percent if fathers smoke . Similarly , men who drink alcohol in the three months before pregnancy expose newborns to a 44 percent increased risk of defects , according to another study .
Advanced paternal age is also a factor that increases the chances of health problems , with fathers older than 35 putting their babies at a higher risk for low birth weight , seizures , and the need for ventilation after birth , according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine . In addition , men older than 40 are less likely to conceive through assisted reproductive technology , such as in vitro fertilisation ( IVF ).
“ I think it ’ s important to pay more attention to men ’ s reproductive health because it has the potential to improve men ’ s lives and the lives of their children ,” Almeling told YaleNews . “ I also want to call attention to these issues so that scientists and clinicians make it a point to include men in their research on reproductive outcomes . If they continue to concentrate solely on women ’ s health and women ’ s behaviors , then we are missing some unknown amount of reproductive risk associated with men ’ s bodies .”
This disparity in medical knowledge is also evident in the lack of a contraceptive pill for men who can only rely on more invasive forms of contraception , like condoms and vasectomy , often leaving the birth control burden to women who have to take a daily pill that can lead to a string of side effects .
While we have “ come up with a very good understanding of what governs female egg development , maturation , and ovulation ” in a way that allows doctors to both suppress and enhance the process when there ’ s a dysfunction or the need for contraception , “ there ’ s virtually no treatment to improve sperm production for men who have low sperm count or poor semen quality ,” said Professor Sharpe .
Male age and health matter when it comes to reproductive outcomes .
He added that the absence of therapies for low sperm count was partially due to the success of assisted reproductive technologies like intracytoplasmic sperm injection ( ICSI ) where a sperm and an egg are harvested , fertilised in the lab , and then implanted back into the womb . ICSI is often a treatment for men with low sperm counts or quality and has effectively reduced the need for improving sperm production as it simply requires obtaining one good sperm .
“ This has resulted in us not bothering to understand what causes low sperm count or what we might do to correct it ,” he stressed . “ And so we have ended up in the strange situation that , to manage male fertility problems , we are actually manipulating and treating female partners and making them go through a very invasive and bruising procedure . I think it is largely unrecognised that women actually have to bear the brunt of male infertility or subfertility by undergoing these invasive procedures .”
Boosting the science of the male reproductive system will obviously help people of all genders improve their health while lifting the unfair fertility burden that has been placed on women for such a long time . But when it comes to the chances of conceiving , we should also realise that it isn ’ t simply in the hands of prospective parents .
“ In addition to emphasizing that both women ’ s and men ’ s age and health matters , we can also move away from stigmatizing and blaming individuals for reproductive outcomes . COVID-19 is providing us with a deadly reminder that any one person ’ s health is not solely a matter of their individual choices . It is also shaped profoundly by structural and environmental conditions , including rampant racism and deep economic inequalities ,” wrote Almeling . n
GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com ISSUE 1 | 2023
51