Male Infertility: Antioxidants Spice Up Sluggish Sperm

Until recently conditions such as varicocele, undescended testes, infections, obstructive lesions, cystic fibrosis, trauma, and tumors were the only known causes of male infertility. Those men who did not fall into any of these groups were described as having "idiopathic" infertility as the cause has only recently been identified. However, over the past decade it has become clear that the principal cause of idiopathic male infertility is an underlying pathological condition known as "oxidative stress". Oxidative stress is a well known biological state that occurs when there is an imbalance between the body's production of excessive reactive oxygen species (also known as free radicals) and an insufficiency of internal and dietary-derived antioxidants to counter the adverse effects of the these potentially harmful molecules.... [read full story]                    

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