What Increases A Woman’s Risk Of Infertility?

Most of the risk factors for infertility are same for men and women, but some are different.

If you're under 35 and have had frequent unprotected sex for more than a year without conceiving, there is a good chance that you or your partner may have a condition that is interfering with your chances of conceiving, but only a doctor can diagnose a fertility problem for sure.

Risk factors of infertility for women:

Many things can change a woman’s ability to have a baby. They include:

Age: Maternal age is probably the most significant risk factor that is related to a woman’s ability to conceive. As age increases, the ability of ovaries to produce normal and healthy eggs decreases, so the chance of becoming pregnant decreases.

Even you conceive during 30’s, there are great chances for chromosomal abnormalities and unsuccessful implantation. The ability of successful pregnancy starts to decrease from your 30s.

Endometriosis: It is estimated that 40-50% of the infertile women may have endometriosis. Endometriosis can disrupt the ovaries' normal cycle of egg development and release. Scar tissue from endometriosis can form adhesions around the ovary and restrict the available surface area of the ovary for egg release.

Diabetes: Women with uncontrolled diabetes are more likely to have fertility problems. When insulin resistance is controlled through diet, exercise and in some cases use of diabetes drugs such as metformin fertility tends to improve. For women with diabetes, good blood sugar control improves pregnancy rates and the success rate of pregnancy.

PCOS: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common causes of infertility and is associated with impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance. Many women with PCOS are also diabetic or pre-diabetic.

Irregular periods: Irregular periods can be troublesome when trying to get pregnant. Irregular or abnormal ovulation and menstruation accounts for 30% to 40% of all cases of infertility. Women with irregular periods are often prescribed fertility drugs like Clomid to increase the number of ovulation periods.

Smoking: Women who smoke are 60% more likely to become infertile than nonsmokers.
Smoking can significantly delay the time of conception. It takes them longer time to become pregnant when they try to conceive.

Even you consider IVF procedure; smoking has a devastating effect on a woman’s chance of bearing a baby.

Overweight: Many women who are overweight wonder if this is a factor in their infertility. Today, in America, nearly 50% of women between the ages of 25 and 55 are overweight. The issue that is more common for overweight women is ovulation problems.

STDs: Approximately 65 million people in the United States have an STD. STDs can cause severe damage for a woman’s reproductive organs. Recent studies showed that 38 percent of infertility cases are caused by STDs.

Pelvic inflammatory disease: It is an inflammation of a woman's upper reproductive tract, including the structures of the uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes. The relationship between PID and infertility is relatively well accepted. PID causes infertility by the scarring process that occurs during the healing of sexually transmitted infections.

Fallopian tube damage: Damage of fallopian tubes is the most common cause infertility. About 20-25% of infertility cases are due to blocked or damaged fallopian tubes. This is usually caused by either pelvic infection or pelvic endometriosis.

Thyroid disease: Thyroid disease and infertility affects each other condition. Women who have a family history of hypothyroidism need to be extra diligent about getting tested for the presence of the antibodies. This condition can lead to not only infertility, but miscarriage, premature babies, growth issues for the child, and may also contribute to more complications later in the pregnancy.

Does Irregular Period Cause Infertility?

Yes, for some extent it is true. Menstrual cycles that differ more than a few days in length from month to month are considered irregular cycles or periods.

Usually, menstrual cycle occurs about every four weeks, with the normal range between 24-35 days.

To measure the length of your menstrual cycle, start counting from the first day of your last menstrual period and stop counting on the first day of your next menstrual period.

Irregular periods can be really tough or even intolerable to track. Irregular periods are common in unfertile women. However, many women are very confused about the relation between irregular periods and their infertility.

There is no need to worry, if you experience one or two irregular menstrual cycles because most of the women occasionally experience a small variation in their periods. This can be due to sleepless nights or even dieting.

For some extent, irregular period causes problems if you are trying to conceive. A normal menstrual cycle is four times as more fertile than the menstrual cycle that is ten days or more outside the normal range.

However a moderately consistent pattern of irregular cycle means that you need to pay some attention to what your body is trying to tell you.

The most important thing for a woman to be fertile is the release of the eggs. If you don’t release an egg that often, you don‚t have as many opportunities to get pregnant. Women with irregular periods are often prescribed fertility drugs like Clomid in order to increase the number of ovulation times.

Usually, irregular periods indicate that there are no ovulations and without ovulation it is impossible for conception to occur. You should check your progesterone level in the second half of the cycle. Irregular periods are often one of the first signs that a woman is approaching her menopause stage.

Though the right symptoms of irregular periods vary depending on a woman's special cycle, virtually all women will go through irregular periods for three to ten years before periods stop completely. Irregular periods are plainly what are irregular for you.

What Increases The Risk Of Male Infertility?

There are various factors that can increase the risk of a man’s infertility. A man’s sperm can be affected by his overall health and lifestyle.

Here are few things that may reduce the health or number of sperm:

• Illegal usage of drugs


• Heavy consumption of alcohol


• Increased age, men older than 35 may have a gradual decline in fertility


• Usage of medicines for other illnesses


• Receiving chemotherapy or radiation treatment for cancer


• Cigarette smoking


• Other health problems like hormonal problems, mumps, or serious conditions like kidney disease


• Exposure to environmental toxins, including lead and pesticides


• Psychological disorders like emotional stress, anxiety, depression and social pressure


• Taking anabolic steroids


• Occupational exposure to pesticides, excessive heat and various other chemicals


• Medical conditions like Thyroid disorders, Disorders of adrenal glands, Diabetes, Disorders of pituitary gland, genetic diseases, Liver or kidney failure and HIV/AIDS


• Being overweight or too thin


• Prostate infections


• Celiac disease


• Defect or obstruction in the reproductive system (anarchism, cryptorchidism)


• Hormone dysfunction (caused by disorder in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis)


• Injury (e.g., testicular trauma)


• Undescended testicles
  

Is Infertility A Woman’s Problem Only?

No, infertility is not always a woman’s problem. Men and women can have similar problems that cause infertility, both are affected almost equally.

More than 1 out of 10 couples experience infertility.

It is estimated that 6.1 people throughout the United States are infertile.

Conception and bringing a pregnancy to term are both very complicated and both greatly depend upon a variety of factors.

Both of them are not only dependent on the man’s ability to produce healthy and viable sperm, but also they both depend on the woman’s ability to produce healthy eggs.

Also, they are strongly dependent on the unblocked fallopian tubes to ensure the sperm to meet the egg.

One more important fact is the ability of the sperm to penetrate and meet the egg for fertilization to occur.

Lastly, two factors that ensure a healthy conception are the ability of the fertilized egg to implant into the uterus and the ability of the embryo to develop as it is supposed to do.

One third of women’s problems are responsible for infertility, another one third is due to male problems and the remaining are due to a mixture of male and female problems or may be due to some unknown causes.

It is a myth that infertility is always a woman’s problem. About 80% of the cases with a diagnosed cause, about half are due to male problems, such as azoospermia, a condition that produces no sperm, oligospermia, a condition that causes low sperm count, increased testicular abnormalities, and a decreased reach of climax.

For women, the most common causes of infertility include endometriosis, tubal blockages, and waiting until later in life to try to get pregnant.

An estimated 20 percent of infertility cases are connected to unknown causes. Regardless of where the source of infertility lies, this is a problem that negatively impacts both partners.