{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T20:23:45Z","timestamp":1787775825423,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":11,"publisher":"Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,1]],"date-time":"2025-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1735689600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["lww.com","ovid.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Male infertility is a major health problem that can have a tremendous negative impact on the affected individuals and couples. The use of folk medicine is common practice in the Middle Eastern region, especially before seeking conventional medical treatment. Unfortunately, some of these remedies might be potentially harmful. This study aims to assess the use of folk medicine before formal medical evaluation by a male infertility specialist among men in couples with subfertility in Saudi Arabia.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Materials and Methods:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A retrospective study of prospectively documented data was conducted among male patients who presented for evaluation of their infertility at one center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from May 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021, to assess the prevalence of the use of traditional medicine among these patients.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The total number of patients who visited the center for infertility assessment during the specified period was of 427. Most patients had primary infertility (64.4%). Table 1 summarizes the demographic data of the patient population. About 55.3% of the patients were 40 years old or less. Patients who consumed some form of alternative medicine are 38.9%. A clinical varicocele was detected in 57.8% of these men. Patients who use alternative medicine had significantly lower semen concentration and estradiol levels (\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">P<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.02 similarly).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>About 38.9% of patients who attended our clinic were using some alternative medicine. Furthermore, patients who use alternative medicine had significantly less sperm motility and progressive motility.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.4103\/ua.ua_34_24","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,18]],"date-time":"2025-01-18T04:00:18Z","timestamp":1737172818000},"page":"48-51","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/lww.0000000000001000","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Consumption of folk medicine in men-seeking treatment for infertility"],"prefix":"10.4103","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Abdulaziz","family":"Baazeem","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thamer Mishal M.","family":"Alqurashi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, Armed Forces Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yasser Homaidi H.","family":"Alharbi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Raad Abdullah D.","family":"Aldahhas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Family Medicine, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mutaz Hassan A.","family":"Fatani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, King Fahad General Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"276","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"R2-20260423","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1506","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/dem046","article-title":"International estimates of infertility prevalence and treatment-seeking: Potential need and demand for infertility medical care","volume":"22","author":"Boivin","year":"2007","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"R3-20260423","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"86","DOI":"10.1093\/aje\/kwf011","article-title":"Sources of bias in studies among infertility clients","volume":"156","author":"Tielemans","year":"2002","journal-title":"Am J Epidemiol"},{"key":"R4-20260423","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.1016\/0028-2243(91)90206-Z","article-title":"Prevalence of infertility: International data and problems of measurement","volume":"38","author":"Thonneau","year":"1991","journal-title":"Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol"},{"key":"R5-20260423","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.ijir.3901150","article-title":"Satisfaction with the malleable penile prosthesis among couples from the Middle East \u2013 Is it different from that reported elsewhere?","volume":"16","author":"Salama","year":"2004","journal-title":"Int J Impot Res"},{"key":"R6-20260423","first-page":"1059","article-title":"A review of WHO laboratory manual for the examination and processing of human semen (5th edition)","volume":"17","author":"Cao","year":"2011","journal-title":"Zhonghua Nan Ke Xue"},{"key":"R7-20260423","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"k2204","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.k2204","article-title":"The hidden costs of infertility treatment","volume":"361","author":"Howard","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"R8-20260423","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1819","DOI":"10.1097\/01.ju.0000177491.98461.aa","article-title":"Increased incidence of testicular cancer in men presenting with infertility and abnormal semen analysis","volume":"174","author":"Raman","year":"2005","journal-title":"J Urol"},{"key":"R9-20260423","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1567","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/deu106","article-title":"Semen quality, infertility and mortality in the USA","volume":"29","author":"Eisenberg","year":"2014","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"R10-20260423","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1030","DOI":"10.1016\/j.juro.2012.08.239","article-title":"Frequency of the male infertility evaluation: Data from the national survey of family growth","volume":"189","author":"Eisenberg","year":"2013","journal-title":"J Urol"},{"key":"R11-20260423","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"154398","DOI":"10.1016\/j.phymed.2022.154398","article-title":"Botanicals in health and disease of the testis and male fertility: A scoping review","volume":"106","author":"Shepherd","year":"2022","journal-title":"Phytomedicine"},{"key":"R12-20260423","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"449","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fct.2016.11.001","article-title":"An overview of herb and dietary supplement efficacy, safety and Government regulations in the United States with suggested improvements. Part 1 of 5 series","volume":"107","author":"Brown","year":"2017","journal-title":"Food Chem Toxicol"}],"container-title":["Urology Annals"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ovid.com\/10.4103\/ua.ua_34_24","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T19:43:17Z","timestamp":1787773397000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ovid.com\/10.4103\/ua.ua_34_24"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,1]]},"references-count":11,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4103\/ua.ua_34_24","relation":{},"ISSN":["0974-7796","0974-7834"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0974-7796","type":"print"},{"value":"0974-7834","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,1]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2024-05-07","name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2024-10-06","name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}]}}