According to the May 2003 issue of Epidemiology, researchers analyzed the urine of 168 men for eight different phthalate compounds and also tested their sperm for shape, motility and count. The results showed an association between phthalates (monobutyl and monobenzyl) in the urine and low sperm counts. Past research has shown that these chemicals may interfere with sex hormone production in animals and the current study suggests that, even in small amounts, they may affect fertility in human males.

Phthalates are found in cosmetics, deodorants, medical devices and toys.

Phthalates are proven to reduce both male and female infertility. If you are trying to conceive then please check out the cosmetics you use at the Skin Deep Database. If you are using drug store toiletries or grooming products then odds are good that you are absorbing phthalates through your skin.

You are the only one who can protect yourself, your fertility and your unborn child. Nobody else is monitoring the safety of cosmetics, hair care, skin care or other personal care products. Buy organic! Go a step further and make your own grooming products from food grade ingredients. It bears repeating. No one else is looking out for your fertility but you.

Click here to read full story at Health News Express

Author: Sheryl Lyon

So you decided that you are ready to try to have a baby. Maybe you will be one of the lucky ones who conceives within a couple of months or maybe you will find yourself among millions of fertility challenged couples. Whether you are ready to start trying tomorrow or you have been trying for a decade, you might want to improve your odds of conception with a method that is quick, painless, inexpensive, and non-invasive. Believe it or not, a visit to the chiropractor may help you conceive.

A series of research papers published in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research found that chiropractic had positive results treating infertility regardless of the woman’s age, number of years infertile, previous medical intervention or health history including miscarriages, blocked fallopian tubes, amenorrhea, colitis, or trauma.

Your spine is a central highway of nerves. Just as an electrical cord has to be fully plugged in for an appliance to run, your reproductive system will not function properly if the nerves that lead to them are not functioning or are blocked in some way.

A chiropractor will identify pinched or pressed nerves and fix those spinal distortions, which are called subluxations. The distortions can be caused by many things including childhood falls, illnesses, accidents, poor posture, or even stress.

Once the subluxations are minimized or eliminated, a woman’s menstrual cycle can strengthen, the action that delivers the egg through the fallopian tubes to the uterus can improve, and some cases of endometriosis can begin to reverse.

Holistic websites, chiropractic patients, and chiropractors themselves abound with pregnancy success stories. Some women went to the chiropractor for other reasons only to find themselves pregnant, others have battled infertility for more than 10 years and then suddenly became pregnant within a couple of months or even a couple of visits to the chiropractor. These remarkable results are the same regardless of the technique used by the chiropractor.

Naturally this does not mean that everyone will get pregnant after a visit to the chiropractor only that it has worked for many women. It is certainly an option worth exploring either alone or in conjunction with other infertility treatments particularly if you have ever had an accident or illness.

You should be able to consult with a chiropractor and have an adjustment in less than an hour and the visit will probably cost $100 or less if it is not already covered by your insurance. The adjustments are totally non invasive, in fact they are done with the patient fully clothed. The procedure is painless although the sounds created by the adjustments may shock you at first.

Seeing a chiropractor is a great idea even if you are not trying to conceive because the nerves in the spine lead to more than just your reproductive organs but if you are trying to conceive, the benefits to fertility are just too compelling to ignore.

Does it really matter why or how it works? Or only that it works? Even if you do not believe in chiropractors why wouldn’t you try a proven fertility treatment that is easy, fast, gentle, non-invasive, covered by most insurance, inexpensive, painless and harmless? So do not forget to add an appointment with the chiropractor as part of your preconception plan.

This message keeps repeating itself. If you are trying to conceive please eat and drink as organic as possible, not just for successful conception but also for the health of your baby. You might just feel better too!

(PRWEB) — Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut, Norwalk, CT, – There is little in the world of infertility quite as stressful for patients as recurrent miscarriage. So, with the release of a new study identifying stress itself as a possible cause of miscarriage, infertility specialists are now examining ways in which their patients can heighten their chances of a healthy pregnancy by reducing stress.

The study, reported in the November 17th issue of New Scientist, concluded that stress releases a “cascade of hormones” that can lead to spontaneous abortion. It followed 864 pregnant women – 55 of whom miscarried. Those who miscarried were more likely to have identified themselves as experiencing stress before or during pregnancy, and were also more likely to have lower levels of progesterone and progesterone-induced blocking factor (PIBF) in their blood, than those who did not miscarry.

Progesterone and PIBF are both critical to a healthy pregnancy, in that they prevent the immune system from attacking the placenta and the fetus as foreign substances. In another leg of the same study, pregnant mice that were exposed to high levels of noise responded with elevated serum levels of cortisol, a hormone liked to progesterone suppression.

Mark Leondires, M.D., a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist and Medical Director at the Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut (RMACT) in Norwalk, agrees that stress can play a factor in recurrent miscarriage. “It can be a vicious cycle,” he explains, “wherein each subsequent loss can exacerbate feelings of hopelessness or anger. And these feelings can cause hormonal imbalances.” Dr. Leondires maintains, however, that stress reduction therapies such as counseling, support groups and even moderate physical activities must be incorporated in a full treatment plan for recurrent infertility.

“There are many other causes of recurrent miscarriage; indeed, there are many other causes of biochemical imbalances,” Dr. Spencer Richlin, reproductive endocrinologist at RMACT notes. For instance, a February, 2004 study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism determined that women who suffered from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) – a common cause of infertility – were more likely to miscarry due to insufficient levels of two important proteins secreted by the endometrium during pregnancy. Women with PCOS are up to three times more likely to miscarry than those who do not have the condition, the study also found.

What’s more, structural abnormalities involving the uterus or the cervix can also play a part in recurrent miscarriage, as can maternal chronic disease or genetic defects. In fact, while approximately one percent of women experience recurrent miscarriage, it is estimated that a definitive cause can be found in only about 40% of cases. Dr. Leondires advises, “If a patient suffers from recurrent miscarriage – defined as the loss of three or more consecutive pregnancies – she should seek out an infertility specialist for a complete examination. It is important that we gather as much factual data as possible about each patient’s medical history and condition, before incorporating any aspects of a treatment regimen, be it a physical or emotional component.”

When stress is identified as a contributing factor in his patients’ history of recurrent miscarriage, Dr. Leondires refers them to qualified counselors who specialize in infertility issues, and to local support groups like RESOLVE or the American Fertility Association. “It’s important that patients have the opportunity to share their concerns with a professional who can provide positive strategies for de-stressing,” he says, “just as it is beneficial to patients when they find families going through the same difficulties they are, so they know they are not alone.” However, he encourages patients to be sure to choose a support group that is facilitated by a skilled professional who specializes in fertility issues. At RMA-CT, Dr. Leondires and his colleagues have established several support groups that meet regularly under the supervision of a certified infertility counselor.

More information about Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut is available at www.rmact.com.

About Dr. Mark P. Leondires, M.D.
Dr. Mark P. Leondires, M.D., FACOG, is a leading authority on reproductive medicine. Dr. Leondires is board certified in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. He is a member of the Society of Reproductive Endocrinologists, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Dr. Leondires earned his medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine and completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. Dr. Leondires completed a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

After completion of his training, he fulfilled his military obligation by serving as the ART Director for the largest and most successful program in the military health care system at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. During this time he was an Assistant Professor at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and clinical faculty for the Combined Fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology. Dr. Leondires is currently Medical Director and lead physician with Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut in Norwalk CT.

Along with numerous teaching and research activities, Dr. Leondires has published articles in professional medical journals, national consumer magazines and newspapers, as well as abstracts and book chapters.

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Source: http://www.prweb.com/
A spokesperson for London Nutritionists Foods For Life has dismissed the recent health scares about fertility and IVF treatment as a moneymaking smokescreen by fertility ‘experts’.

(PRWEB)– Tony Bishop-Weston, an ‘optimum nutrition catering consultant’, says “there’s no doubt the UK health service have a poor record on assisted pregnancy but the real tragedy is that very many cases of infertility can be helped simply by better health and nutrition.”

Fertility - barometer for health
Even with IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) it’s very difficult to stay pregnant if your body hasn’t been nutritionally nurtured. The body is very good at deciding that all those nine months of effort just aren’t worth it. If you are not feeding yourself right, scoffing little but sugar and saturated fat and artificially stimulating yourself with caffeine instead of food then what chance has the baby got to grow into an optimally healthy adult?

Of course sometimes it’s more complicated than stupified, drugged, poisoned, malnourished sperm or poisoned eggs lacking essential amino acids and omega fats but even in these cases optimum nutrition is often even more important to avoid IVF being a waste of time and money.

“sometimes it’s more complicated than stupified, drugged, poisoned, malnourished sperm or poisoned eggs lacking essential amino acids and omega fats…”

The main problem is that showing people why they should avoid coffee and eat more broccoli and hempseeds is not nearly as profitable as complicated medical procedures and selling rigorously tested expensive patented drugs.

Expensive addictions
Some people would rather pay thousands of dollars on pills and surgery rather than ditch the morning espresso and give up the cigarettes and five bottles of chardonnay a week. They don’t want the extra personal responsibility. They already have enough stress in their lives which is often at the root of the problem and it’s easier to delegate to an ‘expert’.

Over 1% of births artificially ‘assisted’
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) published a guide that indicates that 8,800 babies (1.5% of all births) are now born every year by IVF, 3650 every year are born by intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and many more thorough other Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), underlining how successful the treatment has become since it was first pioneered in Britain in 1978.

Causes of infertility
In 1992, The British Medical Journal reviewed 61 separate studies and concluded there had been an average 42 per cent fall in sperm count from 113 million per millilitre in 1940 to 66 million. Sperm counts under 20 million per millilitre point to infertility and, under 5 million, sterility.

Some researchers are looking at the root cause of infertility rather than lucrative quick fix methods but funding is tight. CHAPS the Chemicals And Pregnancy Study is looking into whether workplace chemicals and toxins are to blame for problems with fertility.

Copper maybe an issue. Although copper is an essential element, an excessive amount is toxic. The symptoms of copper poisoning, which are frequently associated with suicidal intent, are clearly documented including: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension, jaundice, haematuria, anuria, coma and death. One of the most prominent sources of copper comes from our drinking water supplies running through copper piping. Particularly in areas where the water is soft and acidic, as this literally corrodes layers of copper off the pipes. Cigarette smoking is also a prominent source of excessive copper accumulation Similarly oral contraceptives are notorious in raising the body’s copper burden. (Foresight)

Nutrition Solutions
London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston works with Foresight the charity for preconceptual care, fertility and pregnancy. Foresight help hundreds of couples every year to have healthy babies.

Yvonne reveals some interesting statistics “Foresight has shown that Nutritional Therapy can double the success rate of babies born to couples with infertility issues. Foresight therapies achieve 72% success rate of healthy babies born while the success rate for assisted conception is only 30-47%.

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Learn more at: Pr-Inside.com http://www.pr-inside.com/ano and IrishHealth.com

A recent study published in the November 1, 2007, issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology which was completed by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)concluded that women can substantially reduce their relative risk of infertility caused by ovulatory disorders with simple dietary and lifestyle changes.

The study focused on infertility caused by ovulatory problems which is responsible for up to 30% of infertility cases. The study followed almost 18,000 married women and tracked a number of factors that have been proven to cause ovulatory problems and ovulatory related infertility in women.

“The women with the highest fertility diet scores ate less trans fat and sugar from carbohydrates, consumed more protein from vegetables than from animals, ate more fiber and iron, took more multivitamins, had a lower BMI, exercised for longer periods of time each day, and, surprisingly, consumed more high-fat dairy products and less low-fat dairy products. The relationship between a higher ‘fertility diet’ score and lesser risk for infertility was similar for different subgroups of women regardless of age and whether or not they had been pregnant in the past.

Said Chavarro, ‘We analyzed what happens if you follow one, two, three, four, or more different factors. What we found was that, as women started following more of these recommendations, their risk of infertility dropped substantially for every one of the dietary and lifestyle strategies undertaken. In fact, we found a sixfold difference in ovulatory infertility risk between women following five or more low-risk dietary and lifestyle habits and those following none.’”

There are so many reasons why this study makes sense. Notice that the factors common to women with the highest fertility scores are common to anyone who follows a very healthy lifestyle. If you get more of your protein from vegetables than animals for example, you are missing all sorts hormones, antibiotics and other nasty chemicals that are routinely given to commercially raised livestock and poultry.

Want to maximize your fertility diet further? In addition to the factors that improve fertility in this study, stick to organic animal and vegetable products and raw, full fat dairy products.