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Cryptorchidism
Cryptorchidism, also known as undescended testis, is the failure of one or both testes to descend into the scrotum. The word is from Greek () 'hidden' and () 'testicle'. It is the most common birth defect of the male genital tract. About 3% of full-term and 30% of premature infant boys are born with at least one undescended testis. However, about 80% of cryptorchid testes descend by the first year of life (the majority within three months), making the true incidence of cryptorchidism around 1% overall. Cryptorchidism may develop after infancy, sometimes as late as young adulthood, but that is exceptional. Cryptorchidism is distinct from monorchism, the condition of having only one testicle. Though the condition may occur on one or both sides, it more commonly affects the right testis. A testis absent from the normal scrotal position may be: # Anywhere along the "path of descent" from high in the posterior (retroperitoneal) abdomen, just below the kidney, to the inguinal ring ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Testicular Dysgenesis Syndrome
Testicular dysgenesis syndrome is a male reproduction-related condition characterized by the presence of symptoms and disorders such as hypospadias, cryptorchidism, poor semen quality, and testicular cancer. The concept was first introduced by N.E. Skakkaebaek in a research paper along with the department of Growth and Reproduction in Copenhagen University. The paper suggests the origin and underlying cause of TDS can be detected as early as in fetal life, where environmental and genomic factors could affect the development of the male reproductive system. Causes Central to the cause of irreversible TDS are disruptions to early fetal testes development. This has genetic, environmental, and lifestyle components, however the rapid increase in the incidence of the disorders associated with TDS in the last decades indicates that it is under a powerful environmental influence. The fetal origins of TDS are reinforced by the high incidence of TDS disorders found occurring together in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orchiopexy
Orchiopexy (or orchidopexy) is a surgery to move and/or permanently fix a testicle into the scrotum. While orchiopexy typically describes the operation to surgically correct an undescended testicle, it is also used to resolve testicular torsion. Indications Undescended testicle Undescended testicles affect 1% of males and are 10% bilateral. The cause is unknown, with a small percentage associated with developmental abnormalities or chromosomal aberrations. Early orchiopexy reduces the risks for cancer and sterility in males with cryptorchidism, or undescended testes. Cryptorchidism is definitively diagnosed after 1 year of age, as testicular descent may occur after birth. Surgical placement into the scrotum is recommended by 18 months to decrease the likelihood of testicular cancer, testicular atrophy, and sterility. Cryptorchidism is associated with tubular atrophy and sterility. In addition, cryptorchid testes carry a three to five times higher risk for testicular cancer (g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scrotal Ultrasound
Scrotal (or transscrotal) ultrasound is a medical ultrasound examination of the scrotum. It is used in the evaluation of testicular pain, and can help identify solid masses. Indications Although the development of new imaging modalities such as computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging have opened a new era for medical imaging, high-resolution sonography remains as the initial imaging modality of choice for evaluation of scrotal disease. Many of the disease processes, such as testicular torsion, epididymo-orchitis, and intratesticular tumor, produce the common symptom of pain at presentation, and differentiation of these conditions and disorders is important for determining the appropriate treatment. High-resolution ultrasound helps in better characterize some of the intrascrotal lesions, and suggest a more specific diagnosis, resulting in more appropriate treatments and avoiding unnecessary operation for some of the diseases. Imaging technique For any scrotal examina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semen Quality
Semen quality is a measure of male fertility, a measure of the ability of sperm in semen to accomplish fertilization. Semen quality involves both sperm quantity and quality Cryptorchidism, hypospadias, testicular cancer and poor semen quality make up the syndrome known as testicular dysgenesis syndrome. Factors There are many factors that influence the sperm quality. Exposure to any of the temporary factors can cause up to a three-month delay before sperm quality returns to normal, due to spermiogenesis. General decline A 2017 review and meta-analysis found sperm counts among Western men (i.e. men in Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and North America) declined 50–60% between 1973 and 2011, with an average decline of 1.4% per year. The meta-analysis found no indication the decline is leveling off. The amount of decline among men in North America and men in Australia/Europe is similar. The decline in sperm count among men in South America, Asia, and Africa is less than m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inguinal Hernia
An inguinal hernia is a hernia (protrusion) of abdominal-cavity contents through the inguinal canal. Symptoms, which may include pain or discomfort especially with or following coughing, exercise, or bowel movements, are absent in about a third of patients. Symptoms often get worse throughout the day and improve when lying down. A bulging area may occur that becomes larger when bearing down. Inguinal hernias occur more often on the right than left side. The main concern is strangulation, where the blood supply to part of the intestine is blocked. This usually produces severe pain and tenderness of the area. Risk factors for the development of a hernia include: smoking, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obesity, pregnancy, peritoneal dialysis, collagen vascular disease, and previous open appendectomy, among others. Predisposition to hernias is Genetic predisposition, genetic and they occur more often in certain families. Deleterious mutations causing predisposition to he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anorchia
Anorchia (also called anorchidism or anorchism) is a disorder of sex development in which a person with XY karyotype, which corresponds to male sex, is born without testes. Within a few weeks of fertilization, the embryo develops rudimentary gonads (testes), which produce hormones responsible for the development of the reproductive system. If the testes fail to develop within eight weeks, the baby will develop female genitalia (see Swyer syndrome). If the testes begin to develop but are lost or cease to function between eight and 10 weeks, the baby will have ambiguous genitalia when it is born. However, if the testes are lost after 14 weeks, the baby will have partial male genitalia with the notable absence of gonads. Tests include observable lack of testes, low testosterone levels (typical female levels), elevated follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone levels, XY karyotype, ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging showing absent gonadal tissue, low bone density, l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monorchism
Monorchism (also monorchidism) is the state of having only one testicle within the scrotum. Terminology An individual having monorchism can be referred to as ''monorchid''. Causes This can be due to: * One testicle not descending into the scrotum during normal embryonic or fetal development (3–4% of 'normal' live births), also known as undescended testis or cryptorchidism. In this case the testis is within the abdominal cavity, somewhere along the normal route of descent – most commonly, within the inguinal canal. Such a testis has an increased risk of malignancy. * One testicle may disappear during development (the so-called vanishing testis) due to some intrauterine insult. This is thought to be most likely vascular, such as testicular torsion. * One testicle may have been surgically removed through orchiectomy. * One testicle may be injured. Notable cases Due to testicular cancer *Lance Armstrong, American bicyclist. * Ashley Gray, Ironman triathlete * Frank Church, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypospadias
Hypospadias is a common variation in fetal development of the penis in which the urethra does not open from its usual location in the head of the penis. It is the second-most common birth abnormality of the male reproductive system, affecting about one of every 250 males at birth. Roughly 90% of cases are the less serious distal hypospadias, in which the urethral opening (the meatus) is on or near the head of the penis (glans). The remainder have proximal hypospadias, in which the meatus is all the way back on the shaft of the penis, near or within the scrotum. Shiny tissue that should have made the urethra extends from the meatus to the tip of the glans; this tissue is called the urethral plate. In most cases, the foreskin is less developed and does not wrap completely around the penis, leaving the underside of the glans uncovered. Also, a downward bending of the penis, commonly referred to as chordee, may occur. Chordee is found in 10% of distal hypospadias and 50% of proximal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chemical
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., without breaking chemical bonds. Chemical substances can be simple substances (substances consisting of a single chemical element), chemical compounds, or alloys. Chemical substances are often called 'pure' to set them apart from mixtures. A common example of a chemical substance is pure water; it has the same properties and the same ratio of hydrogen to oxygen whether it is isolated from a river or made in a laboratory. Other chemical substances commonly encountered in pure form are diamond (carbon), gold, table salt ( sodium chloride) and refined sugar ( sucrose). However, in practice, no substance is entirely pure, and chemical purity is specified according to the intended use of the chemical. Chemical substances exist as solids, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Premature Birth
Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 weeks, very early preterm birth is between 28 and 32 weeks, early preterm birth occurs between 32 and 36 weeks, late preterm birth is between 34 and 36 weeks' gestation. These babies are also known as premature babies or colloquially preemies (American English) or premmies (Australian English). Symptoms of preterm labor include uterine contractions which occur more often than every ten minutes and/or the leaking of fluid from the vagina before 37 weeks. Premature infants are at greater risk for cerebral palsy, delays in development, hearing problems and problems with their vision. The earlier a baby is born, the greater these risks will be. The cause of spontaneous preterm birth is often not known. Risk factors include diabetes, high blood pressure, multiple gestation (being pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Idiopathic
An idiopathic disease is any disease with an unknown cause or mechanism of apparent spontaneous origin. From Greek ἴδιος ''idios'' "one's own" and πάθος ''pathos'' "suffering", ''idiopathy'' means approximately "a disease of its own kind". For some medical conditions, one or more causes are somewhat understood, but in a certain percentage of people with the condition, the cause may not be readily apparent or characterized. In these cases, the origin of the condition is said to be idiopathic. With some other medical conditions, the root cause for a large percentage of all cases have not been established—for example, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis or ankylosing spondylitis; the majority of these cases are deemed idiopathic. Medical advances and this term Advances in medical science improve the understanding of causes of diseases and the classification of diseases; thus, regarding any particular condition or disease, as more root causes are discovered and as events ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endocrine Disruptor
Endocrine disruptors, sometimes also referred to as hormonally active agents, endocrine disrupting chemicals, or endocrine disrupting compounds are chemicals that can interfere with endocrine (or hormonal) systems. These disruptions can cause cancerous tumors, birth defects, and other developmental disorders. Found in many household and industrial products, endocrine disruptors "interfere with the synthesis, secretion, transport, binding, action, or elimination of natural hormones in the body that are responsible for development, behavior, fertility, and maintenance of homeostasis (normal cell metabolism)." Any system in the body controlled by hormones can be derailed by hormone disruptors. Specifically, endocrine disruptors may be associated with the development of learning disabilities, severe attention deficit disorder, cognitive and brain development problems. There has been controversy over endocrine disruptors, with some groups calling for swift action by regulators to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
