Treatment to Combat Male Fertility Problems More Common than IVF Procedures in Europe, Study Says

Main Category: Fertility
Article Date: 02 Jul 2005 - 2:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

A treatment used to combat male fertility problems has become more common than in vitro fertilization procedures in health clinics across Europe, indicating that more men than women might be having fertility problems, according to a study presented on Wednesday at the... European Society of Human Reproduction & Embryology's annual conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, London's Daily Telegraph reports (Fleming, Daily Telegraph, 6/23). Anders Andersen, head of the University of Copenhagen's fertility clinic, on behalf of ESHRE surveyed clinics in 24 European countries about procedures used to treat fertility problems (Ross, AP/Long Island Newsday, 6/22). The report found that intracytoplasmic sperm injection -- in which a single sperm is placed into an egg using a syringe and is used when a man has a low semen count or poor sperm quality -- accounted for 52% of assisted reproductive procedures in 2002, compared with other IVF techniques, which accounted for 48% of the procedures (Roberts, BBC News, 6/23). Andersen said there likely are many reasons for the increased proportion of ICSI treatments, including a rise in male infertility, perhaps due to declining sperm quality and environmental factors, London's Independent reports (Frith, Independent, 6/23). An estimated one in six couples experience fertility problems, according to Reuters AlertNet (Reaney, Reuters AlertNet, 6/22).

"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/repro The Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations