As a man, I’m quite interested in knowing something about the phenomenon of undescended testes. I have a close friend who had this case. I’d like to ask if cryptorchidism, or undescended testes, is hereditary, or is it just a random abnormality in the chromosomes of men?
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Interesting! Thank you so much for your question.
Yes, cryptorchidism is the case when a testicle hasn't descended into the correct place in the pouch of skin hanging below the penis (scrotum) before birth. Oftentimes, only one testicle is affected, however, both testicles are undescended around 10% of the time. It is unknown what causes cryptorchidism specifically but factors like genetics, maternal health, and environmental causes interplay that affects the hormones, physical changes, and nerve activities necessary for testicular development. So based on the previous statement, cryptorchidism isn’t solely caused by genetics although mutations that caused the underdevelopment of the testicle can be passed on to a male offspring but the probability of expressing it is quite low as other factors must also contribute to cause cryptorchidism. If you wish to know more, you may visit these sites:
https://www.urologyhealth.org/urology-a-z/u/undescended-testicles-(cryptorchidism)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470270/ .
Feel free to reach out to us if you have more questions. Thank you! 😊
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