IDEAL INDIAN SCHOOL

DOHA-QATAR

BIOLOGY INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT
INFERTILITY:
CAUSES AND TREATMENT

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 IDEAL INDIAN SCHOOL
P.O.BOX.2836

BIOLOGY PROJECT WORK

DONE AND SUBMITTED BY

YASMIN MOHAMMED
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR CLASS XII COURSE

2022-2023

SUPERVISED BY:
MS. RUHINA
TEACHER IN CHARGE
IDEAL INDIAN SCHOOL
DOHA-QATAR

SCHOOL SEAL

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 IDEAL INDIAN SCHOOL, DOHA-QATAR
BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that of class

XII has done her biology project work during the academic year 2022-2023 at the
Ideal Indian School, Doha-Qatar.

Her examination Roll No. Is

Name of PGT:

Date: Signature:

Submitted to All-India Senior School Certificate Examination in Biology

(practical) conducted at Ideal Indian School, Doha-Qatar on

Internal Examiner External Examiner

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 ACKNOWLDEGEMENT

At this moment, I would like to express my sincere gratitude towards

everyone who helped me in completing this project successfully.

First and foremost, I thank the Almighty for providing me with

all the ideas and facilities to accomplish this project.

Secondly, I thank my family and friends for their support and

encouragement in completing this project.

Last but not the least, I thank my biology teacher, Ms. Ruhina, for her
vital support and genuine guidance, without

which this project would have not been completed successfully.

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 INDEX

S.NO TITLE PAGE NO

1. INTRODUCTION 6

2. THEORY 7

3. EFFECTS 8

4. CAUSES 9-12

5. TYPES OF 13
INFERTILITY

6. TREATMENT 14-15

7. CONCLUSION 16

8. BIBILOGRAPHY 17

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 INTRODUCTION

When a man or woman is incapable to contribute fully to pregnancy

even after insecure coitus, it is referred to as infertility. Reason for
infertility may be known or unknown. Mostly ovulation variation in
women is the main reason for infertility. In males, insufficient sperm
production or genetic defects etc., are the reasons for infertility.

Women who are fertile experience a natural period of fertility before and
during ovulation, and they are naturally infertile during the rest of the
menstrual cycle. Fertility awareness methods are used to discern when
these changes occur by tracking changes in cervical mucus or basal body
temperature.

So, it is very important to be educated about infertility and its causes and
how it is possible to solve infertility with the help of assisted reproductive
technology. There a number of reasons for infertility including congenital,
drugs, diseases, immunological or sometimes psychological. A person
affected by any of the above reasons can suffer from infertility.

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 THEORY
Primary vs. Secondary Infertility
Primary infertility is defined as the absence of a live birth for women
who desire a child and have been in a union for at least five years,
during which they have not used any contraceptives. The World Health
Organization also adds that 'women whose pregnancy spontaneously
miscarries, or whose pregnancy results in a still born child, without ever
having had a live birth would present with primarily infertility

Secondary infertility is defined as the absence of a live birth for women

who desire a child and have been in a union for at least five years since
their last live birth, during which they did not use any contraceptives.

Thus, the distinguishing feature is whether or not the couple have ever
had a pregnancy which led to a live birth.

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 EFFECTS
Psychological Impact

Infertility may have profound psychological effects. Partners may

become more anxious to conceive, increasing sexual dysfunction marital
discord often develops in infertile couples, especially when they are
under pressure to make medical decisions. Women trying to conceive
often have clinical depression rates similar to women who have heart
disease or cancer. Even couples undertaking IVF face considerable
stress.

Social Impact

As for the social impact of infertility, in many cultures across our

country, childless women face discrimination, ostracism and stigma if
they fail to become pregnant or carry a baby to term. The situation is
further worsened by the fact that such women face a lack of support,
both emotionally from their own families and financially as
well. Exposed to a tremendous social pressure, infertile couples may
resort to hiding the problem due to the extreme privacy of the matter.

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 CAUSES
Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are infections transmitted from

an infected person to an uninfected person through sexual contact.
STDs can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites. Examples include
gonorrhea, genital herpes, human papillomavirus infection, HIV/AIDS,
chlamydia, and syphilis.

Genetic Disorder

Genetic causes of infertility include chromosomal aberrations, single

gene variants, and phenotypes with multifactorial inheritance.

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DNA Damage

• DNA damage reduces fertility in female oocytes, as caused by

smoking.
• DNA damage reduces fertility in male sperm, as caused by
oxidative DNA damage, smoking. Or other DNA damaging agents
including reactive oxygen species, fever or high testicular
temperature.

General Factors

Diabetes mellitus, thyroid disorders, undiagnosed and untreated coeliac

disease adrenal disease

• Hypothalamic-pituitary factors

• Hypopituitarism

• Environmental factors

• Toxins such as glues, volatile organic solvents or silicones, physical

agents, chemical dusts, and pesticides Tobacco smokers are 60% more
likely to be infertile than non-smokers.

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 FEMALE
The following causes of infertility may only be found in females. For a
woman to conceive, certain things have to happen: intercourse must take
place around the time when an egg is released from her ovary; the system
that produces eggs has to be working at optimum levels; and her hormones
must be balanced.
For women, problems with fertilization arise mainly from either structural
problem in the Fallopian tube or uterus or problems releasing
eggs. Another major cause of infertility in women may be the inability to
ovulate.
Other factors that can affect a woman's chances of conceiving include
being overweight or underweight, or her age as female fertility declines
after the age of 30.
Sometimes it can be a combination of factors, and sometimes a clear cause
is never established.
Common causes of infertility of females include:
• Ovulation problems (e.g., polycystic ovarian syndrome, PCOS, the
leading reason why women present to fertility clinics due to an ovulatory
infertility)
• Tubal blockage
• Age-related factors
• Uterine problems
• Endometriosis
• Advanced maternal age

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 MALE
The main cause of male infertility is low semen quality. In men who
have the necessary reproductive organs to procreate, infertility can be
caused by low sperm count due to endocrine problems, drugs, radiation,
or infection. There may be testicular malformations, hormone
imbalance, or blockage of the man's duct system. Although many of
these can be treated through surgery or hormonal substitutions, some
may be indefinite. Infertility associated with viable, but immotile sperm.

Behavioral Factors

It is well-known that certain personal habits and lifestyle factors impact

health, many of these same factors may limit a couple's ability to
conceive. Fortunately, however, many of these variables can be regulated
to increase not only the chances of conceiving but also one's overall
health.
• Diet and exercise
• Alcohol
• Smoking
• Drugs
• Age

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 COMBINED INFERTILITY

In some cases, both the man and woman may be infertile or sub-fertile,

and the couple's infertility arises from the combination of these

conditions. In other cases, the cause is suspected to be immunological or

genetic; it may be that each partner is independently fertile but the

couple cannot conceive together without assistance.

UNEXPLAINED INFERTILITY

In these cases, abnormalities are likely to be present but not detected by

current methods. Possible problems could be that the egg is not released

at the optimum time for fertilization, which it may not enter the fallopian

tube, sperm may not be able to reach the egg, fertilization may fail to

occur, transport of the zygote may be disturbed, or implantation fails. It

is increasingly recognized that egg quality is of critical importance and

women of advanced maternal age have eggs of reduced capacity for

normal and successful fertilization.

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 TREATMENT

Medical treatment of infertility generally involves the use of fertility

medication, medical device, surgery, or a combination of the following.

If the sperm are of good quality and the mechanics of the woman's

reproductive structures are good (patent fallopian tubes, no adhesions or

scarring), a course of ovarian stimulating medication maybe used. The

physician may also suggest using a conception cap cervical cap, which

the patient uses at home by placing the sperm inside the cap and putting

the conception device on the cervix, or intrauterine insemination (IUI),

in which the doctor introduces sperm into the uterus during ovulation,

via a catheter. In these methods, fertilization occurs inside the body.

If conservative medical treatments fail to achieve a full-term pregnancy,

the physician or may suggest the patient undergo in vitro fertilization

(IVF). IVF and related techniques (ICSI, ZIFT, and GIFT) are called

assisted reproductive technology (ART) techniques.

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ART techniques generally start with stimulating the ovaries to increase

egg production. After stimulation, the physician surgically extracts one or

more eggs from the ovary, and unites them with sperm in a laboratory

setting, with the intent of producing one or more embryos. Fertilization

takes place outside the body, and the fertilized egg is reinserted into the

woman's reproductive tract, in a procedure called embryo transfer.

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 CONCLUSION
Infertility is a health problem of considerable socio-cultural and
economic impact. It needs to be alleviated by several measures including
health education, prevention, and early diagnosis and providing the
patient with cost effective treatment including ART.

History and physical examination usually will help to identify the reason
behind the cause. If the patients fail the initial therapies, then the proper
referral should be made to a reproductive specialist.

It is also very important for both the individuals to take a proper care of
their reproductive health and ensure that they are leading a healthy
lifestyle so as to prevent any factors which makes it difficult especially
for the women to conceive.

WHO recognizes that the provision of high-quality services for family-

planning, including fertility care services, as one of the core elements of
reproductive health? Recognizing the impact of infertility on people’s
quality of life and well-being thus becomes very important.

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 BIBILOGRAPHY

Websites

• www. Biological science

• www. Exploring biology

• www. Tell me why

• www. Encyclopedia

BOOKS

NCERT XII

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