Effect Of Infertility On Your Body
Infertility is a medical condition that can affect both the male and female reproductive systems. Typically, doctors consider infertility when a couple fails to conceive after a year or more of unprotected intercourse. Females may struggle with infertility issues due to blocked fallopian tubes, irregular periods, abnormally shaped uteruses, and other issues. Male patients suffer from infertility issues like low sperm production, irregular endocrine function, and testicular problems. Doctors use fertility treatments and medications to help infertile patients conceive.
What are the treatment options for infertility?
Once doctors identify an infertility issue, these professionals discuss a variety of treatment options to address these problems. These options may include specific surgical procedures, assisted reproductive technology (ART), or fertility medications. Any of these treatments can be administered separately or combined with each other to maximize efficiency.
Understanding different types of medications
Before a specialist prescribes a fertility medication, doctors will evaluate the patient to determine the appropriate medication option. For patients undergoing an ART treatment like intrauterine insemination (IUI), physicians prescribe medication to stimulate ovulation in the patient. These fertility drugs will stimulate the pituitary gland to produce hormones like luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) for ovulation. During ovulation, the ovaries release an egg that moves through the fallopian tubes to be fertilized by sperm cells.
Medications that stimulate hormone production
While some fertility drugs target organs to produce hormones, other medications are created to be synthetic forms of pregnancy-inducing hormones. The human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) hormone is a naturally occurring hormone that feeds nutrients to the egg after the embryo attaches to the uterine wall. The synthetic version can be injected into muscles to help with ovulation. This medication can be used alone or in combination with other drugs.
What are human menopausal gonadotropins
Human menopausal gonadotropin medications (hMGs) merge LH and FSH to stimulate ovarian follicles. These follicles hold the eggs that the ovaries release for fertilization. The hMG medications may prompt the body to release more than one egg during ovulation, which leads to multiple births.
Additional types of fertility medications
There are various forms of fertility medications that can be taken for a variety of different reasons throughout the conception process. Some medications assist with embryo implantation, prevent infection, deliver progesterone, or stop untimely ovulation cycles. These medications can be steroids, antibiotics, or synthetic hormones. Fertility medications can be delivered orally or through injections. These drugs can also come with side effects like abdominal pain, breast tenderness, and bloating.
Discussing infertility with a professional
Patients interested in learning more about fertility treatments should speak to a fertility specialist. A specialist will be able to properly examine a patient to determine the type of infertility issue and work with the patient to develop a treatment plan. Fertility medications should be administered under the careful supervision of a doctor.
