When married couples try but fail to have children, both the wife and husband need to be tested. There are several possible causes. In men, the Journal of the American Medical Association (249:2947) reports, perhaps the easiest type of infertility to treat is caused by a deficiency of vitamin C. This vitamin is also known as ascorbic acid, a name reflecting its ability to prevent scurvy (a disabling illness, with painful bruising around the bones that used to afflict sailors after months at sea without fresh fruit or vegetables).

A much less severe vitamin C deficiency, which is by no means severe enough to produce scurvy, can cause male infertility due to clumping together of the spermatozoa. Failure of separation prevents sperm from swimming towards the ovum. Mild deficiencies of this nature are diagnosed by measuring the concentration of vitamin C in the blood. The infertility can easily be overcome in a few weeks with one or two tablets of vitamin C (500 mg each) taken every day by mouth.

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