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Although the final verdict of the medical safety of vasectomy is not yet in, suspicions are rising that the long-term effects on the immunological system will reveal that a vasectomy can cause many other serious health problems.
H.J. Roberts, MD analyzed his own patients over a period of three decades and found a high correlation between a wide variety of conditions and men with fairly recent vasectomies.
According to Dr. Roberts, "Their patterns of response suggest a cause and effect relationship between vasectomy and various disorders, especially in light of the fact that the majority had enjoyed good health before surgery." [Is Vasectomy Worth The Risk? A Physician's Case Against Vasectomania]
A vasectomy involves cutting and tying the cords (the vas deferens) that carries the sperm. There are several procedures used to carry out a vasectomy, involving either cutting and tying, electrocautery (burning with an electrical current), or both.
Causes & Development
After the surgery, a blow-out may occur if the severed cord swells and reopens under pressure from the sperm. Cutting the cord which carries sperm has an obvious danger. The sperm, which must go somewhere, may leak into body cavities.
The body will react to the out-of-place sperm with an immune response, thus opening the door for possible complications. After a vasectomy, sperm production remains the same: about 50,000 spermatozoa each minute. Having "no way out" these cells die and are absorbed. Antigens that are released in the process can infiltrate the bloodstream and cause the body to manufacture antibodies to defend itself against them, with possible cross-reactivity to other body tissues.
Signs & Symptoms
The primary symptom that has been linked to vasectomy is the post-vasectomy pain syndrome, also known as congestive epididymitis or chronic testicular pain. This has been reported to occur even years after vasectomy at a rate of 2% for open-end vasectomy and between 6% and 33% for closed-end vasectomy. [Contraception, 46:6, pp. 521-5, December, 1992, British Journal of Urology, 69: 2, pp.188-91, February, 1992]
Treatment & Prevention
A review of the literature would suggest that techniques in which the cords are not tied off (open-ended) can reduce the incidence of post-vasectomy scrotal pain.
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Signs, symptoms & indicators of Consequences of Vasectomy:
Conditions that suggest Consequences of Vasectomy:
Risk factors for Consequences of Vasectomy:
KEY | | Weak or unproven link |  | | Strong or generally accepted link |  | | Very strongly or absolutely counter-indicative |
GLOSSARY
Antibody (Antibodies)
A type of serum protein (globulin) synthesized by white blood cells of the lymphoid type in response to an antigenic (foreign substance) stimulus. Antibodies are complex substances formed to neutralize or destroy these antigens in the blood. Antibody activity normally fights infection but can be damaging in allergies and a group of diseases that are called autoimmune diseases.
Antigen (Antigenic, Antigens)
A substance, usually protein or protein-sugar complex in nature, which, being foreign to the bloodstream or tissues of an animal, stimulates the formation of specific blood serum antibodies and white blood cell activity. Re-exposure to similar antigen will reactivate the white blood cells and antibody programmed against this specific antigen.
Chronic (Chronicity)
Usually referring to chronic illness: Illness extending over a long period of time.
Congestive
Pertaining to accumulation of blood or fluid within a vessel or organ.
Immune System (Immune Response, Immunity)
A complex that protects the body from disease organisms and other foreign bodies. The system includes the humoral immune response and the cell-mediated response. The immune system also protects the body from invasion by making local barriers and inflammation. The process may involve acquired immunity (the ability to learn and remember a specific infectious agent), or innate immunity (the genetically programmed system of responses that attack, digest, remove, and initiate inflammation and tissue healing).
Syndrome
A medical condition characterized by a collection of related symptoms (what the patient feels) and signs (what a doctor can observe or measure).
Testicles (Testicle, Testicular)
Egg-shaped sex glands in the scrotum that secrete male hormones such as testosterone, and produce sperm.
Last updated: May 11, 2008
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