I have always thought and
said many times that stress is the cause of most of the physical ailments
mankind faces and it seem I could be right on the mark.
Stress is now suspected to
be a cause of Infertility, according to a new research led by Dr. Courtney Denning-Johnson Lynch, director of
reproductive epidemiology at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in
Columbus.
This new study builds on the team’s
previous work which linked high levels of stress to a woman’s inability to
become pregnant, thus making the connection of stress being tied to increased
risk of infertility.
For the
new findings, the team examined data on 501 couples trying to conceive between
2005 and 2009 at two research centers in the United States, one in Michigan and
the other in Texas, who were followed for up to 12 months as they tried to get
pregnant.
As part of the data sample, the
female participants, aged between 18 and 40, with no known fertility problems,
produced saliva samples the morning after they were enrolled and also the
morning after their first period following enrollment. From these samples, the
researchers could measure levels of cortisol and alpha-amylase, known causes of
stress.
Over the
12 months period of study, of the 401 women who completed it, 347 (87%) became
pregnant and 54 (13%) did not.
When the data was analyzed, it
was found that the women with the highest levels of alpha-amylase had a 29%
lower chance of conceiving each month, compared to those with the lowest levels
Also, the women with
the highest indicated stress levels were more than twice as likely to meet the
clinical definition of infertility, which is being unable to conceive over a 12
month period of unprotected sex.
These
links remained despite adjustments for possible factors like age, race, use of
alcohol, caffeine and tobacco while trying to conceive.
I probably would have became pregnant earlier, because I had so much stress in my life at the time I was battling infertility.
My
advice then, for women who are trying to conceive, is to watch your stress
levels and make the necessary lifestyle changes to minimize stress in this
regard.
The
more you know!!!!
image by: http://www.artfertilityblog.com/2012/11/06/stress-and-infertility/
Hi. I believe this is true. I've been very stressed over the past few years and now that I'm TTC I think it's affecting the process. I don't consciously feel stressed anymore so I think my body is still playing catch up. I think exercise helps a heat deal. Hope this helps someone out there.
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