Specialist Makes Plea for Men's Health Awareness

Professor Robert McLachlan, Consultant Andrologist at Monash IVF and Director of Andrology Australia, addressed hundreds of medical professionals attending the annual Fertility Society of Australia Conference in Brisbane encouraging a greater recognition of men's health matters in the setting of infertility. "Male reproductive dysfunction is the sole or contributory cause of infertility in half of the couples presenting for treatment at IVF centres", said Professor McLachlan. He went on to say "while we have made terrific technological advancements such as ICSI that allow a normal pregnancy from many men with severe infertility, we always have a responsibility to fully evaluate men for conditions that can be treated to restore their ability to father children naturally. We must also look for conditions that are known to be more common in this group of men, and also address matters of lifestyle that could impact on fertility and their health more generally." These important points were also made recently by Professor McLachlan when addressing General Practitioners at a series of education lectures held by Monash IVF at several sites nationally. The aim of these educational events was to raise awareness of how to make early detection of the signs and symptoms of male and female infertility. Early intervention by lifestyle changes and/or medical treatment could then be more effective at either restoring natural fertility or improving the outcomes of medical treatments for infertility, such as IVF. When men consult a GP or Fertility Specialist with their female partner in an effort to achieve a pregnancy it is an opportune time for lifestyle issues to be addressed whilst they are relatively young and healthy. The co-morbidities associated with poor lifestyle and infertility include testicular cancer, cardio vascular disease and androgen deficiency but, for many, the symptoms of these will not be realised until a further 20+ years down the track. For many men, their attendance with a fertility problem may be the first time they have seen a doctor for quite a while and taking the opportunity to address their holistic health care should not be missed. Another important observation is that 70% of men with Klinefelter's Syndrome (chromosomes XXY) escape diagnosis for their entire lifetime! This is alarming considering that a simple testicular examination would alert a Medical Practitioner to this given that testicular volume in Klinefelter's men is around 4ml compared to the normal 30ml. Many do not have the "textbook" appearance (tall, feminised) but their health and well-being would greatly benefit from testosterone supplementation once diagnosed. Andrology Australia has developed an excellent booklet "Your Sperm and How to Look After Them" which provides men with information on factors affecting their fertility and lifelong fertile health. It is aimed at single and partnered men of all ages. Hard copies can be obtained directly from Andrology Australia free of charge to Australian residents.

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For more information on men's fertile health matters please visit http://www.andrologyaustralia.org/ or http://www.monashivf.com/