There are a variety of medical conditions related to the male reproductive system. Two such conditions are oligospermia and azoospermia. Oligospermia is a condition in which the number of sperm present in the semen is lower than the average sperm count. Azoospermia is the complete absence of sperm in the semen. Any sperm count that is lower than 15 million sperm per milliliter of semen is considered low. A low sperm count will decrease the chances that one of the sperm will fertilize the female egg.

The causes of the condition range from medical causes to environmental causes to lifestyle causes. Medical causes might be genetic and related to chromosomal defects. Cancer tumors might cause the conditions, and swelling of veins that drain the testicles is also a common cause. Environmental causes could be exposure to x-ray radiation or excessive heat to the testicles. As for lifestyle causes, both drug and alcohol abuse can lead to lower sperm counts.

Signs and symptoms of these conditions can be difficult to identify. Usually, the main indication is the inability to conceive a child, but pain, swelling, or a lump in the testicles could be signs and symptoms.

Diagnosis of the conditions is fairly simple: a physical examination of the testicles and a sperm count analysis using a microscope works in most cases.

Because the causes can be diverse, the treatments are equally diverse. Sometimes surgery is necessary, sometimes antibiotics to clear out an infection are necessary, and sometimes a patient is prescribed hormone treatments and prescriptions.