Men who suffer from rheumatism or arthritis are more likely to have problems with their fertility. This is apparent from a two-year study by Erasmus MC, in which more than six hundred patients from eight hospitals in the south-west of the Netherlands took part.
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The Rotterdam hospital has been researching the influence of so-called inflammatory joint disorders on fertility for fifteen years. This has previously shown that women with inflammatory diseases have a harder time conceiving. It now appears that men with rheumatism and arthritis also have problems with their fertility. They have significantly fewer children than healthy men in the same life stage.
“A man without rheumatism has an average of 1.7 children in his life, according to figures from the CBS,” says researcher Luis Perez. “Men who get inflammatory arthritis before their childbearing years get 1.3 on average. That’s a really big difference.” But maybe these men didn’t want children at all? “The research shows that these men want children just as much as healthy men,” emphasizes Perez. “Many also indicated that they would have wanted more children than they ended up having.”
Possibly several causes
The researchers are not yet able to give a cause for the link between rheumatism and lower fertility. Perez himself thinks that there are several causes. For example, the inflammatory reactions caused by the disease can negatively affect the seed. “We also know that active illness can lead to sexual problems. It could also be that medication has an influence on it. And I think there are psychosocial factors involved, such as the fear that the disease can be passed on to the child. I have men too literally heard it said: I’m afraid I won’t be able to play football with my child later.”
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