#Ashwagandha in the Promotion of #MaleFertility, According to Researchers

By Kyle J. Norton

Fertility is a natural process to ensure the survival of the human species. Through natural selection, we produce many offsprings when the reproductive system works at its peak in a suitable environment.
In other words, female fertility is the ability of women to conceive a biological child before menopause compared to male fertility which generally relies on the quantity and quality of the sperm.

But regardless of all factors, most women are capable of conceiving during their menstrual cycle before reaching the stage of menopause.

Infertility is a condition characterized by the inability of a couple to conceive after 12 months of unprotected sexual intercourse or can not carry the pregnancy to term.

The condition affects over 5 million couples alone in the U. S. and many times more in the world. Because of unawareness of treatments, only 10% seek help from a professional specialist.

Male infertility is a medical condition associated with the male's inability to cause pregnancy in a fertile female.

Male infertility accounts for 40–50% of all cases of infertility, affecting over 7% of all men.
Most cases of male infertility are the results of deficiencies in the semen, and semen quality that lead to reduced function of male fecundity.


The exact causes of male infertility are not identified. However, abnormal sperm production or function due to genetic defects, and medical conditions such as diabetes, or infectious diseases such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, mumps are some of the prevalent factors that are involved in the increased risk of male infertility.

Believe it or not, stress caused by a number of health problems, including heart disease, asthma, obesity, and depression may lead to reduce sperm and semen quality in male fertility.

Dr. Nargund VH said, "Psychological stress can be defined as any uncomfortable 'emotional experience' accompanied by predictable biochemical, physiological, and behavioral changes or responses. Many clinical studies looking at the effects of psychological stress on male fertility have shown that stress is associated with reduced paternity and abnormal semen parameters".

And, "psychological stress could severely affect spermatogenesis, mainly as a result of varying testosterone secretion. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis has a direct inhibitory action on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and Leydig cells in the testes. The newly discovered hormone, gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH), also has an inhibitory effect on the HPG axis. Inhibition of the HPG axis results in a fall in testosterone levels, which causes changes in Sertoli cells and the blood-testis barrier, leading to the arrest of spermatogenesis".

Ashwagandha also known as Withania somnifera is a nightshade plant in the genus of Withania, belonging to the family Solanaceae, native to the dry parts of India, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. The herbal medicine has been considered as Indian ginseng and used in Ayurvedic medicine for over 3000 years to treat tumors and tubercular glands, carbuncles, memory loss, and ulcers and considered an anti-stress, cognition-facilitating, anti-inflammatory, and anti-aging herbal medicine.

In finding a potential compound for the improvement of male fertility, researchers examined the efficacy and safety of W. somnifera treatment in infertile men.

The evidence-based systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted by searching the database of medical literature PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, and DHARA. Grey literature was assessed from the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/) and the US National Institutes of Health (https://clinicaltrials.gov/).

According to the 4 clinical trials (comprising 5 publications: observational, n = 4; randomized controlled trial [RCT], n = 1) only one RCT was included in the analysis, W. somnifera treatment significantly improved semen parameters including semen volume: mean difference [MD], 0.28  ml; sperm concentration: MD, 13.57 million/ml; sperm motility: MD, 8.50%

Furthermore, W. somnifera administration also improves the fertility rate in normozoospermic men by 14%

Moreover, according to the results of the meta-analysis, W. somnifera treatment also exerted a significant improvement in serum hormonal profile, oxidative biomarkers, and antioxidant vitamins in seminal plasma.

No adverse effects were reported during the study.

In other words, W. somnifera enhances all parameters associated with sperm integrity and viability in the promotion of conception without inducing any side effects.

Based on the findings, researchers after taking other factors into account wrote, "Due to a small number of eligible studies, the available data, though promising, are too limited to provide novel and sufficiently robust evidence of the benefits of W. somnifera in male infertility. Additional RCTs of high quality with a larger sample size are warranted to further strengthen clinical use of W. somnifera in treating male factor infertility".


Taken altogether, Ashwagandha may be considered a remedy for the treatment of male infertility, pending the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You. How-To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton's Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca


Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB Daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as the international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Role of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) in the management of male infertility by Sengupta P1, Agarwal A2, Pogrebetskaya M3, Roychoudhury S4, Durairajanayagam D5, Henkel R. (PubMed)
(2) Withania somnifera (Indian ginseng) in male infertility: An evidence-based systematic review and meta-analysis by Durg S1, Shivaram SB2, Bavage S. (PubMed)
(3) Effects of psychological stress on male fertility by Nargund VH. (PubMed)