Treating testes early may prevent male infertility

Infertility is probably the last thing on teenage boys' minds. However, a new study out of Brazil suggests that early treatment of a common testicular condition could preserve future fatherhood potential for some adolescents.
A varicocele is a widening of the veins in the scrotum, which house the testicles. While frequently harmless, varicoceles can cause pain, testicular shrinkage and, over time, can potentially lead to lower sperm counts and quality.

The condition, which is similar to varicose veins, is estimated to affect 15 percent of men over 15. But it is found in more than a third of men being assessed for primary infertility -- an inability to biologically father a child -- and 80 percent of secondary infertility cases -- men who were once able to father a child but are not able to do so anymore.

Although varicoceles may not be the sole cause of infertility in all those cases, the close association with infertility and apparent worsening of the effect over time suggest early surgical correction of the flawed veins could have important benefits later on, the authors note.

"Because varicocele is a progressive disease, we want to know how soon we can intervene, especially because it does not cause infertility in all men," researcher Paula Toni Del Giudice of Sao Paulo Federal University, in Brazil, told Reuters Health in an e-mail. "Surgical intervention is not for everyone."

Del Giudice and her colleagues studied 21 boys between the ages of 15 and 19. They collected two semen samples before surgical correction of the varicoceles and another two samples at least three months after the varicocelectomy.

The team reports in the journal Fertility and Sterility that two important indicators of the sperm's functional health -- the integrity of the sperm cells' DNA and the activity of internal energy generators called mitochondria -- significantly improved after the surgery.

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