Male infertility in Iranian Traditional Medicine, causes, treatment and compares it with modern medicine

One of the major problems of medical science is infertility and reduced fertility. At least one of six couples is infertile. Male infertility is considered in 40% of infertility cases. Prevalence and importance of infertility and the attention of traditional medicine scholars to the causes of infertility and treatment of this problem which its main part is recipes can be helpful, because nutrition has many effects on human health. This study was performed with aim to evaluate the causes of infertility and recipes mentioned in traditional medicine books to prevent and treat male infertility beside modern medicine.
In this systematic review study, the main textbooks of traditional medicine such as Ghanoon in the section of male fertility disorders were evaluated according to the key words of infertility and nutrition, and the causes of male infertility were studied. Then, the causes of male infertility and its treatment in the books and articles of modern medicine were studied and the results were briefly compared.
Iranian traditional physicians have described several causes for infertility and have expressed different treatments depending on the cause. Among these, the role of nutrition is highlighted. The causes of this disorder in some cases is weakness, in some cases is weakness in main organs such as brain, heart, liver and testicles, and in some cases is the main organs's mizaj. Simple food regimes can be used for treatment of many cases, therefore, in this study, treatment and nutritional measures were obtained based on the cause.
The studies showed that viewpoints are similar in Traditional Medicine and Modern Medicine); in both viewpoints, the causes of infertility can be related to the reproductive system (testicles, tract, and penis), sometimes brain, liver and kidney dysfunction, and in some cases, sexual dysfunction may be involved in infertility. These similarities show the richness of Iranian medicine and need for attention to its therapy methods. According to the results, as the first step of treatment, the list of foods presented in this study can be used. This list can be recommended to the patients in medical centers.