Indian Express
10, March 2010
Chandigarh, India

It's because of the social set-up that women are blamed for a childless marriage, but men are equally in need of treatment. The changing lifestyle is certainly to be blamed for infertility in both sexes. Smoking and alcohol cunsumption remain the top culprits in affecting the sperm count in men
INFERTILITY expert and VicePresident of the Indian Society of Assisted Reproduction, Dr Hrishikesh Pai, has revealed that the problem of male infertility is on the rise in the country.

“Rough estimates suggest that nearly 30 million couples in the country suffer from infertility, making the incidence rate of infertile couples at 10 per cent. This is a huge number and increasingly, we have seen cases of male infertility rising due to several lifestyle changes along with the medical complications,” said the doctor, while interacting with the media at Fortis Hospital, Mohali.

According to Dr Pai, in 40 to 50 per cent cases, the male is the affected partner. “It’s because of the social set up that women are blamed for a childless marriage, but men are equally in need of treatment,” he said.

So what is contributing to the disturbing rising trend? “The changing lifestyle is certainly to be blamed for both the male and the female infertility. Smoking and alcohol consumption remain the top culprits in affecting the sperm count in men. In addition, men should avoid working in very hot temperatures as this also reduces the sperm count,” said Dr Pai.

Stress, multiple partners, toxicity in food and delayed marriage are other leading factors which are contributing to augmenting the trend.

“Though the problem is on the rise, the good part is that 80 per cent of the infertility problems can be corrected through simple medication.

Advanced treatment methodologies like the IVF or egg donation is required in 20 per cent of the complicated cases,” said the doctor.