Know the causes of Infertility!

 

Infertility is the failure to conceive (regardless of cause) after 1 year of unprotected active marital life. This condition affects approximately 10-15% of reproductive-aged couples.

 

Its high time now that we educate ourselves on how to manage our hormonal and fertility health.

Couples who are diagnosed with infertility have gone through extensive fertility testing, hormonal medications and expensive treatments. What couples may not know is that there are often NATURAL OPTIONS to help correct many fertility problems.

 

Primary Infertility is when a couple is not able to conceive after trying for a year or more of unprotected intercourse.

Secondary Infertility is defined as couples who have had children previously, but are unable to achieve another pregnancy.

 

Lets take a look at common causes of Infertility.:-

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

PCOS is known to be a number one cause of Infertility. This syndrome is specifically due to hormonal balance in the female body. Not all women who are diagnosed with PCOS have all of the symptoms or may only have a couple.

Hormonal Imbalance may be caused by following hormones in females:-

  • Progesterone
  • Estrogen
  • Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH)
  • Luteinizing Hormone (LH)
  • Androgens for example DHEA, Testosterone
  • Thyroid hormones
  • Prolactin

 

The hormone imbalance may cause

  1. Menstrual cycle irregularities
  2. Weight gain
  3. Insulin resistance
  4. Skin problems
  5. Small cysts in the ovaries
  6. Hirsutism (excessive body hair/thinning head hair).

PCOS is not very well understood and because each woman varies in her symptoms it can be difficult to properly diagnose and treat. PCOS is a very common condition, affecting 4-18% of reproductive age women.

Ovulation Disorder and Poor Egg Health

There are lots of reasons a woman may have no ovulation/ irregular ovulation, Poor egg health. Hormonal imbalance is the number one and main reason women have ovulation/Egg disorder.

 

Here are some reasons why hormonal balance may occur, causing ovulation disorder:

  1. Bad food choices and Poor nutrition
  2. Stress
  3. Xeno-hormones
  4. Poor lifestyle choices
  5. Low Body Weight
  6. High body weight or Obesity
  7. Long-term use of fertility medications containing hormones, for examplebirth control.
  8. Genetic predisposition

Endometriosis

Endometriosis is when excess endometrium lining of the uterus that normally grows in preparation for the implanting of the egg begins, does not completely shed during menstruation. It then begins to attach to other places of the body besides the uterus. When menses comes not only does the lining in the uterus bleed the endometriosis that has grown in other places of the body also bleeds.

35-50% of infertility cases in women are due to endometriosis. This is two to three times the rate of infertility in the general population.

 

Blocked Fallopian Tubes

The fallopian tubes are the pathways in which the ova travel from the ovaries down into the uterus, and if there is a blockage in these tubes it can prevent this from occurring.

The main cause of blocked fallopian tubes:

  1. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), often from STD’s
  2. Endometriosis
  3. Uterine fibroids
  4. Ectopic pregnancy

25% of infertility cases are due to blocked fallopian tubes.

Low Sperm Count or Poor sperm Health

It is known that 20 million sperm/mL or more is a healthy sperm count. If the count is less than that it’s called Low sperm count.

This includes sperm motility (movement of the sperm) and structure (shape/proper formation of the sperm and DNA).

25% of infertility cases are due to poor sperm health. The causes of poor sperm health are often the same as those for low sperm count, though not all men with low sperm count will also have poor sperm health and vice versa.

Following are the reason for Low sperm count:

  1. Poor dietary and lifestyle choices
  2. Smoking or drinking alcohol
  3. Stress
  4. Environmental pollution
  5. Tight clothing.
  6. Anti-sperm antibodies
  7. Genetic predisposition
  8. Damage to the reproductive organs
  9. Illness, for example cancer treated with chemotherapy

Infertility due to both partners

This happens when both partners have one or more fertility issues. Approximately 20-30% infertility cases are due to this reason. If the issues on both sides are resolved then it will be possible to Conceive.

Unexplained Infertility

15% are diagnosed with unexplained infertility Of all the couples diagnosed with infertility. Doctors cannot find a reason why pregnancy is not occurring. Both partners have done all the tests and nothing comes back as a definitive cause of infertility. While it may feel good to know you don’t have a specific problem, it can be confusing on what to do next. This is where natural fertilitydiet, supplements and  therapies can be very effective. The focus with natural therapies is geared toward bringing the body back into balance.

 

References:
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001408/
2. http://www.babymed.com/fertility-problems/top-reasons-causes-infertility
3. http://www.babycentre.co.uk/preconception/suspectingaproblem/majorcauses/
4. http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/infertility-in-women/overview.html

5.http://natural-fertility-info.com/top-10-causes-of-infertility.html