Andrology (from , ''anēr'',

genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...

, ''andros'' 'man' and , ''

-logia ''-logy'' is a suffix in the English language, used with words originally adapted from Ancient Greek ending in ('). The earliest English examples were anglicizations of the French '' -logie'', which was in turn inherited from the Latin '' -lo ...

'') is a name for the

medical specialty A medical specialty is a branch of medical practice that is focused on a defined group of patients, diseases, skills, or philosophy. Examples include those branches of medicine that deal exclusively with children (pediatrics), cancer (oncology), ...

that deals with

male Male (Planet symbols, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or Egg cell, ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot sexual repro ...

health, particularly relating to the problems of the

male reproductive system The male reproductive system consists of a number of sex organs that play a role in the process of human reproduction. These organs are located on the outside of the body, and within the pelvic cavity, pelvis. The main male sex organs are the hu ...

and

urological Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''-logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary system and the reproductive organs. Orga ...

problems that are unique to

men A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...

. It is the parallel to

gynecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the Female reproductive system, female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obste ...

, which deals with medical issues which are specific to female health, especially reproductive and urologic health.

Process

Andrology covers anomalies in the connective tissues pertaining to the genitalia, as well as changes in the volume of cells, such as in genital hypertrophy or macrogenitosomia. From reproductive and urologic viewpoints, male-specific medical and

surgical procedures Many surgical procedure names can be broken into parts to indicate the meaning. For example, in gastrectomy, "ectomy" is a suffix meaning the removal of a part of the body. "Gastro-" means stomach. Thus, ''gastrectomy'' refers to the surgical rem ...

include

vasectomy Vasectomy is an elective surgical procedure that results in male sterilization, often as a means of permanent contraception. During the procedure, the male vasa deferentia are cut and tied or sealed so as to prevent sperm from entering into ...

vasovasostomy Vasovasostomy (literally connection of the vas to the vas) is a surgery by which vasectomies are partially reversed. Another surgery for vasectomy reversal is vasoepididymostomy. History Vasovasostomy is a form of microsurgery first performed ...

(one of the vasectomy reversal procedures),

orchidopexy Orchiopexy (or orchidopexy) is a surgery to move and/or permanently fix a testicle into the scrotum. While orchiopexy typically describes the operation to surgically correct an undescended testicle, it is also used to resolve testicular torsion. ...

circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

, sperm/

semen cryopreservation Semen cryopreservation (commonly called sperm banking or sperm freezing) is a procedure to preserve sperm cells. Semen can be used successfully indefinitely after cryopreservation. It can be used for sperm donation where the recipient wants the tre ...

, surgical sperm retrieval, semen analysis (for fertility or post-vasectomy), sperm preparation for

assisted reproductive technology Assisted reproductive technology (ART) includes medical procedures used primarily to address infertility. This subject involves procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and cryopreservation of ga ...

(ART) as well as intervention to deal with male genitourinary disorders such as the following:

History

Unlike gynaecology, which has a plethora of medical board certification programs worldwide, andrology has none. Andrology has only been studied as a distinct specialty since the late 1960s: the first specialist journal on the subject was the German periodical ''Andrologie'' (now called '' Andrologia''), published from 1969 onwards. The next specialty journal covering both the basic and clinical andrology was the ''International Journal of Andrology'', established in 1978, which became the official journal of the European Academy of Andrology in 1992. In 1980 the American Society of Andrology launched the ''Journal of Andrology''. In 2012, these two society journals merged into one premier journal in the field, named ''Andrology'', with the first issue published in January 2013.

References

External links

American Society of Andrology

European Academy of Andrology

British Andrology Society

International Society of Andrology

Andrology Australia
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Andrology Andrology (from , ''anēr'', genitive , ''andros'' 'man' and , ''-logy, -logia'') is a name for the medicine, medical specialty that deals with male health, particularly relating to the problems of the male reproductive system and urology, urologi ...

Process

History

See also

References

External links