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By: Michael Russell

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.


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
Over/Under weight On both sides of the scale, body weight plays a vital role in fertility. Obesity has been associated with infertility and menstrual irregularities. Women who are overweight but without Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) suffer the same problems with ovulation and menstrual anomalies as women with PCOS and in most cases, this is found to be inexplicable medically. But it has been shown that group treatment programs that help obese women with diets and exercise plans have caused a return of fertility in many patients. In overweight women with ovulation and menstrual irregularity, a weight loss of 6.5kg (15lbs) has been shown to restore normal ovulation. Therefore, it is believed that the improvement in insulin resistance achieved with the weight loss has more to do with restoring ovulation than the actual amount of weight loss itself. Several studies have shown that a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 23-30 is considered overweight and a BMI above 30 is said to be obese.

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
Over the years, several reports have consistently reiterated that smoking decreases fertility.

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
Civilization also comes with its consequences. It is common to see women in industrialized nations delaying childbearing to pursue educational and career opportunities till later years.

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.

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