An Overview of the Causes and Symptoms of Male Infertility from the Perspective of Traditional Persian Medicine

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Tehran Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 M.Sc. Student of Midwifery, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Tehran Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

4 Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Infertility Research Center, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

5 Specialist of Traditional Medicine, Research Center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

6 Assistant Professor, Department of Traditional Medicine, Research Center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine, Department of Traditional Persian Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: Despite significant medical advances, infertility, particularly male infertility, remains a health care problem. Review of this issue from a perspective other than conventional medicine may shed light on the remaining unknown causes of infertility. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the causes and symptoms of male infertility in the traditional Iranian medical texts.
Methods: The causes of male infertility were gathered from reliable sources of Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM), including Canon of Medicine, Zakhireye Kharazmshahi, Sharhe asbab va Alamat, Tebb-e-Akbari, Moalejat-e-Aghili, and Eksir-e-Aazam. Then in order to find recent scientific evidence for male infertility we performed an extensive search in scientific databases such as Medline, Scopus, and Google Scholar.
Results: Various causes, symptoms, and treatments for male infertility have been suggested by Iranian physicians. These causes can be categorized into five classes of general disorders, reproductive system disorders, and causes outside the reproductive system including brain damage, digestive and renal causes, mental and psychological disorders, and unknown causes. In addition to structural problems, reproductive system disorders are presented in the form of hot, cold, wet, or dry reproductive system dystemperaments with different semen indexes.
Conclusion: Various causes with various treatments are discussed for male infertility in TPM sources. Exploration of this diagnostic-therapeutic approach may lead to new research avenues in the field of male infertility.

Keywords

References

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The Iranian Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Infertility
Volume 18, Issue 182
February 2016
Pages 11-17

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