Genius Pregnancy » infertility

Too Much Fitness May Cause Infertility

dasha — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:44:47 +0000

Regular and intensive workouts bring dubious health benefits to women. Researches from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim studied over 3,000 women in North-Trondelag region located in the middle part of Norway and found that challenging workouts may cause female infertility. Regular and hard exercises put women at 3.5 greater risk of impaired fertility, both temporary and sustained.

Women involved in the study were asked to fill out two questionnaires. Interestingly, the second questionnaire was given to the participants ten years after they did the first.

Researchers discovered that women were able to get pregnant after about one year passed since they reduced physical activity.

Source of the image: photl.com.

Obese Woman Got Pregnant after Losing Weight for IVF

dasha — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:01:56 +0000

35-year-old British woman, Rachel Denton, managed to get pregnant naturally after losing weight in order to have in vitro fertilization (IVF). She spent years trying to get pregnant, but had no success because of her weight. Doctors claimed, she was too fat for IVF. She used to weigh 264 lb (120 kg).

The woman had several diseases, which were preventing her from conceiving: polycystic ovaries and thyroid gland pathology. She needed to lose weight in order to have IVF. Within a year Rachel dropped over 110 lb (50 kg) and now she weighs 150 lb (68 kg). By the time she was to visit the reproduction center, she realized that she was already pregnant.

Gynecologists remind us, that excess weight is a major cause of infertility. Losing weight increases the chances to conceive.

Source of the image: sxc.hu/profile/christgr.

Daily Sex Prevents Infertility

tania — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:35:07 +0000

Men with lowered fertility capacity are recommended by scientists to make sex daily. According to Dr. David Greening of Sydney IVF, an Australian center for infertility and in vitro fertilization treatment, daily sex accompanied by orgasm improves the quality of sperm, lowers the number of DNA malfunctions and makes spermatozoons more active. This was heard at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam.

During the study 116 men suffering from infertility issues were supposed to make sex daily for a week. As a result, 4 out of 5 men showed 12% decrease in DNA malfunctions. Additionally, the number of spermatozoons fell from 180 millions to 70 million, but the latter grew more active.

David Greening’s findings in fact contradict the current approach to male infertility treatment which suggests that men should abstain from sex for a few days to improve fertility.

Source of the image: flickr.com/photos/mazelx.

Artificial Spermatozoon Created

tania — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:47:14 +0000

First artificial spermatozoon has been created by scientists at Newcastle University, Great Britain. During this experiment male and female stem cells were utilized to develop a fully-fertile spermatozoon. While female stem cells never produced a male gamete, the same attempt with male cells turned out to be a success.

According to scientists, although the artificially-generated spermatozoon lacks mobility and may fail whenever an ovule is encountered, it possesses qualities of its natural prototype and is capable of fertilization.

Scientists think, this finding may signify a breakthrough advance in infertility treatment which may implement artificial spermatozoon within 10 year time already.

Source of the image: sxc.hu/profile/clix.

Tips for Women Trying to Conceive after 35

tania — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:28:48 +0000

These days, more and more older women decide to have a baby. The reason behind this could be getting married late, making a career and others. Some women are simply not ready for becoming a mom earlier and finally decide to get pregnant after they cross the age 35. But getting pregnant at this age can be problematic due to particular reasons. Most gynecologists agree on the fact that the older the woman, the more difficult it is for her to conceive, bear and give birth to a healthy baby. Pretty often conception problems and pregnancy complications occur. Here are some useful tips for women over 35 wanting to conceive.

Challenges for Women Trying to Conceive after 35

A lot of studies have proved that the probability of ovulation decreases in women after they cross the age limit of 30, decreasing fertility. Women in mid-thirties and older may often have regular cycles without an egg released. Moreover, the quality of the egg decreases when women reach the age of 30 and even more when a woman crosses 40.

The following are a few reasons why conceiving after 35 becomes difficult for women:

various uterine disorders and fibroids,
decrease in cervical fluid.
endometriosis
development of scar tissue around the cervix or fallopian tubes due to a surgery or infections.
chronic health problems, such as diabetes and hypertension.

A woman above the age of 35 or running in her mid forties should also keep in mind that she has higher chances of miscarriage which go up to 35% higher, as well as a higher risk of chromosomal abnormalities.

With a long list of health problems, how can a woman think of conceiving after 35?

How to Increase the Chances to Conceive in Older Age?

The following things can be done to increase the chances of conceiving.

Setup a meeting with your health care provider to discuss the subject. An experienced doctor would review your recent medical requirements, your current lifestyle, as well as your medical history. After going through all these details, your doctor will be able to come up with a numbers of tips on how to conceive, such as taking folic acid, vitamin E and eating a healthy diet.
The second most important recommendation that you should follow in order to conceive is quit smoking, avoid or completely stop drinking alcohol. Also, try to consume less caffeine.
There are fertility tests that you and your partner should go through. You will be able to buy these tests at any drug stores.

Trying to Conceive after 35 – Tips for the Man

You should get your partner involved in this process as well – and here are some tips for the man planning to conceive. The man should also give up smoking and reduce the amount of alcohol consumed to the minimum. He is also supposed to wear something loose and comfortable rather than wearing anything tight which could hamper his sperm. Your partner must also avoid hot baths as they may make the sperm less effective. And in the end, your male partner should also be told to limit the sexual intercourse to once every two days to make his sperm counts high.

Stay Positive and Be Patient

After all that has been said, the most important factor for you is to stay positive. You have to accept the fact that for women aged 35 and more it takes a longer time to conceive. Following the tips above will boost your chances of conception.

If after trying to conceive for six months you have no signs of pregnancy, you should visit your health care specialist for some additional help in solving the problem. Your doctor would then conduct a fertility test in both of you or may recommend consulting a fertility specialist.

Source of the image: sxc.hu/profile/buzzybee.

Anovulation Information and Treatment

tania — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:15:57 +0000

The reason for a woman who is not ovulating or the non-releasing of the egg from the ovaries is known as anovulation. A lot of women go through this phase once or regularly when they do not ovulate. Most of the time the menstrual bleeding does not take place, however if it does, it happens for the reason known as “breakthrough bleeding” which happens due to low estrogen. Many women assume this bleeding to be the process of ovulation.

What Causes Anovulation?

There are quite a lot of reasons to know why a woman is not ovulating regularly. If you consult a doctor, he/she would prescribe certain drugs that will cause ovulation. A woman who is not experiencing any bleeding at least once in a month will not be able to notice that she does not ovulate unless she is monitoring her basal body temperature. The chart would appear to be very irregular with either the temperature shooting up constantly or no temperature rise notification in it at all.

There are various reasons for anovulation. Some of them include:

Breastfeeding
Pre-menopause
Illnesses
Stresses
Coming off the pill
Hormones like Depo-Provera
Traveling
Vigorous Exercise
Extreme weight loss or weight gain
Other medical conditions – like pituitary gland problems and polycystic ovarian disease.

Anovulation and Getting Pregnant

Anovulation could be very discouraging when you are planning to conceive. However, you should not worry about it as there is help available. If you notice that you are not ovulating, you should consult your doctor. There will be a chain of tests undertaken to recognize your levels of hormones and a few drugs will be prescribed for fertility and ovulation.

What Medicines Are Prescribed to Treat Anovulation?

The widely prescribed drug is Clomid or Pergonal. These drugs are prescribed with small doses initially to offer a chance to your body to ovulate and then the doses increase in anticipation of the ovulation. Quite a few women will surely ovulate after taking these drugs. However, Clomid is only prescribed when the origins of infertility are unknown.

If there is no regular menstrual cycle, the drug Provera, or something similar to it is prescribed to encourage menstruation. Just the once ovulation occurs, the doctor can then better inform you if there is any additional help required.

What Natural Ways Can Encourage Ovulation?

There are a lot of natural herbs that can also bring about ovulation. That is the reason why we recommend you to meet your doctor first and take their advice. Vitex provides help to control the estrogen and progesterone hormones which helps in ovulation. You should check the bottle to know the dosages. Vitex should not be taken if you are already prescribed Clomid.

You can try to increase your chances of conception by 50% by drinking tea. To lengthen the leuteal phase and fertility, a dose of 25 mg – 100 mg of vitamin B6 can help. Consumption of evening Primrose oil before the expected ovulation can help in the production of the white cervical fluid, which is known as the most fertile fluid.

There is no need to worry about anovulation as it is not a major reason for infertility. Science and technology have moved to greater heights and things can be done to help nature. Anyway, first of all you should begin with charting your basal body temperature and seeing your doctor.

Source of the image: sxc.hu/profile/bies.

In Vitro Fertilization – Hope for Infertile Couples

tania — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:59:36 +0000

Infertility has been a growing nightmare in the developed countries for some time, but medical researchers have finally made a technological breakthrough that will put an end to its reign. Introducing In Vitro Fertilization, or IVF, an idea first proposed in the 1960s by Patrick Steptoe and Dr. Robert Edwards, a psychologist from Cambridge; about ten years after the first IVF baby was born.

In What Cases Is IVF Used?

When IVF was invented, its role was to aid women suffering from infertility caused by infertile or diseased uterine tubes. However, with new developments, IVF can now treat cases like endometriosis, hostile cervical mucus and other infertility related cases. It has even been tested on male partners with a low sperm count problem; although it has been proved to work, the overall success rate isn’t very high.

How Is IVF Done?

In Vitro Fertilization is carried out with a laparoscope, which is basically a form of telescope that is put inside an anesthetized woman’s abdomen to extract an eggs from the ovary just before they are about to be released naturally by ovulation. Separate sperms are collected from the male partner and then washed and diluted. The extracted eggs and the diluted sperm are then mixed in a glass dish. If fertilization between the egg and the sperm is successful, then the embryo is developed in the lab. After about two or three days, the embryo is placed in the woman’s uterus with the help of a plastic tube.

Possible Side Effects of IVF

IVF does have its boundaries and side effects though. The success rate isn’t 100% and there is a risk of ectopic pregnancy, or extrauterine pregnancy – which is a special case when the embryo is inserted and developed outside the uterine cavity; this is very dangerous because in such cases the uterine tube usually erupts. Furthermore, successful implantation and development doesn’t always end up with childbirth. Miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies are more common through IVF than when you try to conceive the natural way.

How Effective Is IVF?

There is no general trend in the success rate for In Vitro Fertilization. The numbers vary from place to place, so it’s difficult to predict the efficiency. Some figures suggest that for each happy couple who went through a successful IVF procedure, there are a few more couples who didn’t have such luck. With technological advancements, the IVF procedure is becoming more and more streamlined and efficient, but the latest facts from the important IVF centers state the following: 8-10% probability of pregnancy if only one embryo is placed in the woman’s uterine tube; 20% probability for two embryos; 30% for three embryos. Considering the dangers involved, more than three or four embryos are never inserted. Again, it must be noted that pregnancy does not always result in birth, just like in natural conditions.

IVF Gives a Hope

In Vitro Fertilization is a great technological development for the infertility treatment. The whole process requires very high tech equipment along with extremely skilled medical operators. No doctors or medical scientists can make success promises with IVF yet, but we can’t deny the fact that IVF has put a smile on many couples’ faces and is a ray of hope for many others waiting for it to be perfected.

Source of the image: sxc.hu/profile/bjearwicke.