Men are reluctant to get help

As with women with eating disorders, men with eating disorders are at increased risk for depression, anxiety disorders and alcohol and substance abuse.

One of the most important differences between male anorexia and female anorexia is that men are much slower or less likely to seek help for emotional problems in general and eating disorders in particular. The fact that eating disorders are considered by many men to be a "female problem" increases the reluctance to get help.

How a Man's Fertility is Affected

When a man's body weight is extremely low, his ability to produce sperm is reduced significantly. Libido issues present as a lack of interest in sex or anxiety surrounding sexual activity. When the disorder is treated and the body is restored to a normal weight and is once again healthy, then the sperm count is positively affected as well.

A low sperm count (oligospermia) means that the semen contains fewer sperm than normal, with less than 20 million sperm per milliliter of semen. When the sperm count is low, the odds of fertilizing an egg that would result in pregnancy is drastically reduced. There are often significant abnormalities in sperm morphology and motility (shape and movement) in cases of low sperm count.

In cases where sperm count is very low, treatments to boost fertility are available. When anorexia is the problem, treatment is very important in order to restore fertility. If it isn't restored, then in vitro fertilization, ICSI, IUI or other types of assisted reproduction therapies may be necessary to conceive a pregnancy.

 

Table of Contents
1. Male Anorexia
2. Is he underweight?
 
 
Login to comment
(0 Comments)

Post a comment