Doctor's Practice - Appointments (OBGYN)
DOCTOR'S NOTES #1
The meeting was organized by Professor Thinus Kruger and sponsored by Merck.
Every year the ESHRE International Congress is held in a different European country. Because of the expenses involved for individual doctors to attend, it was decided to send certain specialists to the congress and then organize a meeting in South Africa and present the most important topics from ESHRE to all interested infertility specialists.
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One of the important topics was the use of Intralipid to better the pregnancy outcome in IVF patients. This was administered intravenously on the day of Oocyte aspiration and again on the day of Embryo transfer. The results look promising and larger studies need to be done.
DOCTOR'S NOTES #2
Dr. C. Niemandt
MB ChB (Pret)
MMed (O&G) (Pret)
LKOG (SA)
17 December 2018
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Tech comes to the rescue amid reports of falling sperm counts
As men’s health comes under the spotlight, there is a host of ways to test your swimmers.
Since 2003, after 30 Australian men started a facial ‘fun’ experiment, growing moustaches to bring more awareness to men’s health, it has grown into a global effort and
includes a foundation and online movement which SA joined in 2010.
It all started as a way to raise funds for prostate cancer research, and has since branched out into suicide prevention and general health awareness for men. Across the world, men die
an average six years younger than woman, and for reasons largely preventable.
It includes going for a walk, “knowing the nuts”, making “man time” and having open conversations. Men are generally ‘there’ for their friends, but have difficulty reaching out themselves. The foundation and the movement are examples of how concern over men’s
health can be a vehicle for positive change; how a bit of of facial hair fun can go on to drive research and make a genuine and much needed positive impact.
In July 2017, a paper called “Temporal trends in sperm count: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis was published. After analysis of 185 studies in 50 countries over 40
years, the studies showed an average decline of 1.4% per year, with an overall decline of 52.4% between 1973-2011, with an overall total decline of 59.3%.
Tech comes to the rescue amid reports of falling sperm counts !1
Online men’s rights activists have been quick to blame the lower counts, on feminism and try to create an uprising in what is dubbed the “Manosphere”. The research is now used
as evidence that there is a weakening in men n a “soy boy” age- the name based on the notion that eating soy influences testosterone levels. Scientists who support the study instead want to use the research to show that there infertility and reproduction problems should not always fall on the shoulders of woman, and that the taboo of men’s sexual health should be addressed more openly. “Men with low semen quality die earlier than other men. They also have more cardio vascular disease, they have more diabetes, they have more cancer”.
New start up companies in America have realized that there is an untapped consumer market, when it comes to semen testing. Sandstone Diagnostics have developed a small
portable centrifuge for testing blood. The device costs $200 and runs on AA batteries. It spins your sample at 7500 rpm and, when it’s done, spits out your sperm count.
There are other tech companies that have developed devices that help men with this issue.
The Yo Home Sperm Test uses your phone’s camera and light to create a high resolution video of your sperm to reveal how many moving specimens you have.
Locally we have the “Swim-Count sperm quality test” which, according to Takealot is an easy-to-use device you can use in the privacy of your own home that measures your sperm
quality and their ability to swim.
Other remedies includes Sela Strong Man Tea, to support your male sexual health, which boasts of enhanced performance and improved sexual arousal.
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- Article excerpts taken from Business Times columnist - Sylvia McKeown