Male Health - Can Chronic Prostatitis Lead to Infertility?

The prostate is an almond-sized muscle gland that surrounds the male urethra and secretes a fluid. It provides nutrients for semen, makes sperm survive, and protects sperm and the genetic code they carry. It plays a vital role in male reproduction. The prostate function determines that once it has problems, men's urination and sexual function may have problems. Whether chronic prostatitis can lead to infertility is controversial, but many studies have found that chronic prostatitis does have an important impact on male reproductive function. It mainly affects male reproductive function from the following aspects. First of all, chronic prostatitis may reduce sperm density, affect various necessary enzymes in semen, increase coagulation factor, and prolong liquefaction time, thus growing semen viscosity and reducing pH value. Chronic prostatitis may also reduce multiple trace elements in seminal plasma, such as zinc, selenium, and other vital components, which play an essential role in maintaining sperm function. Secondly, there may be a pathogenic microbial infection in chronic prostatitis, such as bacteria, mycoplasma, chlamydia, etc. These infected pathogenic microorganisms can chemotactic leukocytes, increase white blood cells, lead to the aggravation of the degree of peroxide damage, and ultimately affect sperm's vitality of sperm, which may also lead to sperm deformity rate, sperm DNA fragmentation index increased. Chronic prostatitis is one of the essential mechanisms of reproductive decline in men. The immune mechanism may enhance autoimmune response, anti-sperm antibody production, the agglutination of sperm and even death. Besides, inflammatory cytokines in seminal plasma of patients with chronic prostatitis, such as interferon, interleukin, etc., are significantly increased. Under the mediation of these inflammatory cytokines, the sperm will damage and eventually lead to infertility. Also, chronic prostatitis can cause other complications, such as orchitis, epididymitis, seminal vesiculitis, and other symptoms, leading to infertility. In addition to physiological reasons, long-term mental stress and psychological burden can also lead to male endocrine hormone disorders, leading to the death of germ cells and sperm, leading to infertility. Simultaneously, the continuous attack of chronic prostatitis may affect the psychological burden of patients, resulting in psychogenic sexual dysfunction when rooming, such as erectile dysfunction, no ejaculation and so on, thus affecting fertility. Therefore, if there are fertility requirements for patients with chronic prostatitis, take active treatment to avoid prostatic inflammation affecting reproductive function. For chronic prostatitis, more safe and effective treatment is traditional Chinese medicine treatment, such as Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill. It is based on individuals' actual symptoms, various herbs for reasonable compatibility to alleviate symptoms and eliminate discomfort. However, patients should know that although chronic prostatitis can affect infertility, male infertility is often caused by various factors. Only by actively finding out the causes can they carry out the correct treatment