[Medical Q&A] Which drugs will affect men's pregnancy preparation?

Planner: Chinese Medical Association

Reviewer: Gao Yong, Chief Physician, First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University

In clinical treatment, some drugs may have an adverse effect on male fertility. For example, commonly used antihypertensive drugs may cause erectile dysfunction, while calcium channel blockers may reduce the ability of sperm to conceive. In addition, some antibiotics, immunosuppressants, hormone drugs, psychiatric drugs, tripterygium wilfordii for rheumatoid arthritis, and sulfasalazine for enteritis may affect sperm motility and quality, and in severe cases may even cause miscarriage or fetal malformation in women.

Fortunately, the effects of the above drugs are usually temporary, and sperm quality and motility can gradually recover after stopping the drugs. However, chemotherapy drugs, such as cisplatin and cyclophosphamide, have a greater impact on spermatogenesis and may lead to azoospermia. The recovery process is slow, and you need to stop taking the drugs for more than one year before considering pregnancy.

Therefore, men should take contraceptive measures while taking these drugs. If you plan to get pregnant, you can do so after stopping the medication, or consult a specialist before taking the medication. For cancer patients, you can consider "self-sperm preservation" before chemotherapy, freezing the sperm, and after the treatment is over, you can achieve fertility through assisted reproductive technology.