Female
Infertility and Lifestyle Choices
By Michael Russell
There is a growing concern about fertility in the whole industrialized world today. Almost 14% of couples have infertility problems. There is a fear that infertility is on the increase and about 40-50% of these problems are associated with the woman. It is amazing to note, however, that there are many things that can affect reproductive health, that we as humans have control over. Lifestyle choices like smoking, alcohol consumption, caffeine healthy/unhealthy eating habits, weight, sexual practices and so forth all have impact on fertility and it is within our ability to control all these. Most women are unaware as to how important these choices can be with regard to future attempts to conceive. It will be in order to examine these lifestyle choices and how much they affect our reproductive health. *Weight Problems Just as overweight is bad for fertility, extreme underweight has also been shown to cause ovulatory dysfunction and thus infertility. In a woman with anideal body weight (BMI of 20-25) a moderate weight loss of 10-15% can cause menstrual irregularity and a weight gain in such underweight women has also been shown to restore ovulation and pregnancy in most cases. A BMI of 17.5-20 is considered underweight and below 17.5 is severely underweight. *Smoking Smokers suffer a risk of menopause1.5-3 years earlier than normal, decreased oestrogen with breakthrough bleeding and a shortened luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. All these suggest that smoking exerts some toxic effects on the follicles directly. Also, nicotine, a component of cigarette smoke has been shown to concentrate in cervical mucous and the metabolites have also been found in the follicular fluid. This is believed to be responsible for delayed follicular growth and maturation in smokers. Smoking is also associated with an increased incidence of ectopic pregnancy and an increased spontaneous abortion rate which also suggests it affects the uterine tubes and tubal motility. *Delayed Childbearing What most women in this regard do not realize is that aging brings with it many effects that affect almost every part of the body and the reproductive system is not left out. Some of the effects of age on fertility include: - Depletion, over time, of the ovarian follicles affecting menstrual and ovulatory regularity - endometriosis has more time to produce scarring of the ovaries and tubes, reducing free movement of these organs. It can even take the place of the ovarian follicular tissues, if ovarian endometriosis persists and grows. - Fibroids can slowly grow causing endometrial bleeding that can disrupt implantation sites or even distort the endometrial cavity which affects the ability to carry pregnancy in the early stages. - Abdominal adhesions from other intra abdominal surgery or ruptured ovarian cysts can also affect tubal motility, required to sweep the ovaries and gather an ovulated egg. *Alcohol and infertility Also, increased caffeine consumption has been shown to affect the ability to become pregnant and carry the pregnancy. This is because caffeine clearance from the body is decreased during the luteal phase. Animal and human research data also show an increased risk of spontaneous abortions with increased caffeine use and a decreased foetal growth during pregnancy with increased caffeine intake. Consumption of three or less servings of coffee per day may be harmless, but more than this amount i.e. greater than 300mg per day may lead to fertility problems. Women with Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) stand a greater risk of infertility and untreated STDs especially gonorrhoea and chlamydia, are the major cause of PID. The choices we make everyday have a positive or negative impact on our ability to conceive. Decide to make the right decisions today and enjoy a better reproductive health.
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