title: Specific nonsurgical therapy in male infertility.
abstract: Although the objective of this article was to discuss the specific medically treatable causes of male infertility, the reader will be impressed by the fact that many of the treatments seem less than "specific." The need to treat infections to improve fertility is ill defined. The utilization of a scrotal cooling device as "specific" nonsurgical treatment for varicocele is yet to be defined. Immunologic suppression is indeed a specific form of therapy for a measurable phenomenon; unfortunately, the significance of that phenomenon as well as the best means and location of its assessment are undergoing significant reevaluation. An exciting frontier is the prospect of preventing infertility in the patient undergoing therapy for cancer, thus obviating the need for treatment of the ensuing infertility. Before specific therapies can be anticipated to have a predictable beneficial effect, these areas require active investigation to define the problem more clearly.
mesh_terms: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D004542:Ejaculation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007036:Hypothermia, Induced; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007167:Immunotherapy; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology; D007938:Leukemia / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012661:Semen / Q000382:microbiology; D012735:Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological / Q000150:complications; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000187:drug effects; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000276:immunology; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D014646:Varicocele / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001323:Autoantibodies; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents