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A new study has found that stressed-out women are at an increased risk of infertility, which reduces their chances of getting pregnant by around 30 percent.
Courtney Denning-Johnson Lynch, director of reproductive epidemiology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and colleagues found that women with high levels of alpha-amylase a biological indicator of stress measured in saliva are 29 percent less likely to get pregnant each month and are more than twice as likely to meet the clinical definition of infertility, compared to women with low levels of this protein enzyme.
Researchers tracked 501 US women ages 18 to 40 years who were free from known fertility problems and had just started trying to conceive, and followed them for 12 months or until they became pregnant as part of the Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment (LIFE) Study. Saliva samples were collected from participants the morning following enrollment and again the morning following the first day of their first study-observed menstrual cycle. (Read: Revealed how stress makes you anxious!)
Specimens were available for 373 women and were measured for the presence of salivary alpha-amylase and cortisol, two biomarkers of stress. Lynch, the principal investigator of the LIFE Study's psychological stress protocol, said that the study shows that women with high levels of the stress biomarker salivary alpha-amylase have a lower probability of becoming pregnant and it's associated with a greater than two-fold increased risk of infertility among these women. (Read: Which of these 10 symptoms of stress do you have?)
Lynch said results of this research should encourage women who are experiencing difficulty getting pregnant to consider managing their stress using stress reduction techniques such as yoga, meditation and mindfulness. However, she said that couples should not blame themselves if they are experiencing fertility problems, as stress is not the only or most important factor involved in a woman''s ability to get pregnant. (Read: Beat stress, fatigue and depression with laughter yoga)
The study is published in the journal of Human Reproduction.
There are various reasons people can't get pregnant. Here are some of them:
Decline in the number of healthy eggs:
You are born with a fixed number of eggs. But the number declines and so does the health of those eggs as you age. According to The American Society of Reproductive Medicine, even a healthy and fertile 30-year-old woman's chances of getting pregnant reduces by 20% with each passing month. The ugly truth is that consumption of fertility drugs, without any consultation with an expert, further decreases the number of healthy eggs in a woman.
What you can do: 'Optimize the health of your eggs. To do so help yourself to stay healthy, maintain a good optimal weight and give up your vices. Quit smoking and limit your alcohol intake while planning for a baby,' says Dr Shobha Gupta, IVF Consultant at Mother's Lap IVF Centre. Never take drugs for egg formation unless you are undergoing a IVF treatment. Get in touch with a good fertility centre if you need help, and 'try to complete your family before 35 years of age without delaying the process to avoid future complications,' advises Dr Gupta. Know about the other causes that results in infertility in women.
Your partner's health status:
Remember your partner's health plays a significant role in conception after yours. Both maternal and paternal health is responsible for the health of the fertilized egg and eventually that of the fetus. So don't hold yourself responsible for the problem. 'Male infertility is responsible for up to one-third of infertility cases. If your partner is overweight, an alcoholic or a smoker, it could be affecting your chances of getting pregnant. An infection or inflammation of the prostate glands might also stand to be a probable cause,' says Dr Shobha Gupta.
What you can do: Talk to your partner and do it in a gentle but firm manner. Persuade him for a checkup or consultation, a physical examination and semen analysis might be necessary to check on your partner's health status. 'Medications, intrauterine insemination IUI or IVF might be suggested depending on the problem. At home, encourage him to have a lot of citrus fruits and anti-oxidant rich foods to boast fertility,' says Dr Gupta. Know more about the other treatment options to treat male infertility.
Read more about the reasons you're not getting pregnant.
With inputs from ANI and Debjani Arora
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