Bariatric surgery alters the quality of the sperm

Health 11 September, 2017


realinemedia/epictura

Published the 11.09.2017 at 14: 37



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Keywords :

surgery bariatriqueobésitéinfertilité

Obesity and fertility form a poor couple. On average, it takes half the time to conceive when both partners are overweight. According to all logic, lose the extra kilos should therefore be beneficial. But the strategy adopted to achieve this weighs in the balance, as shown in a study published in Bariatric Surgical Practice and Patient Care.

Made with 79 for men, these works show that obese patients who benefited from bariatric surgery did not have the same opportunities. After a bypass, sperm abnormalities are more frequent than in volunteers who have not chosen to go through the operating theatre. Only one patient was able to conceive after the procedure.

A statement paradoxical

Only 43 % of men operated on had a normal semen against two-thirds of those who remained obese and 80 % of those of normal weight. The gap is evident. In detail, these patients had more oligo-astheno-tératospermie (OATS). This term refers to a set of abnormalities of the sperm : the sperm are not enough in number (oligospermia), too little mobility (asthénospermie) and malformed (tératospermie).

The higher the BMI is, the higher the risk to suffer from is significant. But bariatric surgery does not appear to have a positive effect on this parameter. The researchers also noted 5 % of azoospermia, it is to say that the semen is populated with no sperm.

The abnormalities persist therefore after a bypass. However, this is not because they have minci. Within 2 to 5 years following the intervention, the participants have lost, on average, 71 % of their excess weight. And the risk factors are improving, overall : in addition to the overweight, the levels of male sex hormones (androgens) returns to a normal level, as is the quality of the sexual life.