Can your weight make you infertile?

As you'll remember, maintaining optimum weight is important permanently health and longevity. Excess weight gives rise to variety of health problems like heart condition, hypertension, kidney disorder and diabetes. However, not many of us are aware that being overweight also affects their reproductive health during a number of the way.

When patients come to us with fertility-related issues, our first recourse is to teach them about how lifestyle choices affect fertility, and the way the matter worsens with time as most couples haven't any idea how their weight, eating habits and other life choices might be interfering with their efforts to conceive.

And it’s not only women who face fertility issues thanks to excess weight. Overweight affects men’s reproductive health also. we'll discuss both one by one.

What does weight need to do with a woman’s ability to conceive?
Estrogen, the first female hormone that plays avital role during a woman’s cycle, is produced within the body’s fat cells. Consequently, women who are overweight have an excessive amount of estrogen being produced within the body. On the opposite hand, underweight women can have the matter of very low estrogen levels. When there's an excessive amount of or insufficient estrogen in your body, your monthly ovulation cycle (release of egg by the ovaries) gets disturbed. When ovulation is affected, you can't get pregnant. For your genital system to figure properly, you would like to possess optimum hormone levels and a healthy ovulation cycle.

Do know that being overweight doesn't mean that you simply cannot get pregnant. What’s important is that your ovulation cycle is restored, and today it's possible to correct ovulation disorders and hormonal imbalance with fertility medication.

PCOD and infertility
PCOD or polycystic ovarian disease may be a hormonal disorder during which cysts (fluid-filled sacs) develop on one or both of a woman’s ovaries. Again, PCOD messes up the body’s hormone production resulting in disrupted ovulation, which makes pregnancy difficult. Weight gain may be a common side effect of PCOD, which complicates the matter even further.

Research has shown that losing weight helps to enhance fertility in overweight women who have PCOD.

PCOD may be a common explanation for infertility in women within the reproductive age, and lots of women discover the matter only they need difficulty getting pregnant. However, most girls with PCOD are ready to conceive successfully with timely treatment by a talented fertility specialist who is experienced at handing PCOD-related infertility.

How does weight affect a man’s fertility?
Research shows that being overweight or obese can affect a man's fertility during a number of the way. The count of sperm goes down and you might experience poor sperm quality along with the hormonal imbalance. Overweight men also often face male erectile dysfunction.

Your fertility doctor can diagnose male-factor infertility by ordering a semen analysis – an easy yet important test which provides vital information about the health and number of your sperm. supported the semen analysis report, your doctor will advise you of treatment options which present maximum potential for fulfilment.

Can fertility treatment really help?
Today fertility treatment has advanced by leaps and bounds, and there are treatments available for even the foremost complex cases. Fertility specialists at First Step IVF have treated thousands of patients with varied types and causes of infertility. If you or your partner is overweight, our skilled doctors will develop fertility treatment plan tailored to your condition.

In weight-related infertility, we discover that there's often an accompanying underlying factor affecting. Therefore, we advise infertile couples to not hesitate consulting a fertility specialist as they need the expertise to gauge your condition properly. Do know that the best fertility doctor would never coerce you to undertake unnecessary tests and treatments; they might educate you of your treatment options and assist you make an informed decision.

Lifestyle changes which will help improve fertility
If you're getting to get pregnant, we might advise you to start out making some lifestyle changes directly. the great news is that losing even a couple of kilos – as little as 5% of your bodyweight – can make an interesting difference in your ability to urge pregnant. this suggests that a lady weighing 90 Kilos will benefit substantially from losing about 4.5 Kilos.

Also, becoming pregnant once you are overweight increases the danger of pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, miscarriage and premature labor. once we educate patients about these health risks, they become even more participative and willing to adopt lifestyle changes recommended by our in-house Nutritionist and Fertility Counsellor. Some tips to assist you adopt a healthier lifestyle:
• Exercise, stay physically active and maintain a healthy weight.
• If you're overweight, take measures to bring down your weight.
• If you're underweight, work on increasing your weight naturally – eat protein-rich natural foods. Speak to our Nutritionist for further guidance.
• Seek ways to eliminate stress from your life as stress has been proven to impact fertility in both men and ladies.
• If you think that you simply may have an ovulation disorder, or if you experience heavy, irregular or painful periods, or unexplained pelvic pain, do seek professional help at the earliest.

For further information on fertility treatments offered at our Clinic, or for a Free Second Opinion, please book a consultation with Dr. Priti Gupta.