REDUSE STRESS

Reduce Stress, Fertility Prospers
Although the links between stress and fertility are slightly less clear, increasingly doctors say it exists.

"There's no large data showing an obvious direct link, but that said, we are seeing more and more smaller studies that indicate stress-reduction techniques do have an effect on fertility, and I believe it's only a matter of time before someone puts all the pieces together and sees the overall impact of stress on the reproductive system," says fertility expert says Allen Morgan, MD, director of Shore Institute for Reproductive Medicine in Lakewood, N.J.

In a study under way by Morgan and his colleagues, women undergoing high-tech infertility treatments are being treated to a relaxing foot and leg massage just prior to embryo transfer. The results so far, he says, are promising.

Even more encouraging are the findings of Harvard University stress expert Alice Domar, PhD. She reports that a number of women undergoing stress-reducing therapies to help them deal with the frustrations of infertility actually got pregnant -- simply by learning how to relax.

Food and Fertility: The Latest News
While few folks connect diet to fertility, new research shows that very often those who are infertile are also lacking important nutrients in their diet.

Indeed, in a new study cited in OBGYN News, a group of Harvard researchers found that 79% of infertile couples had a lower-than-average intake of foods high in antioxidants -- like fruits and vegetables.

The finding takes on even greater importance in light of previous research showing that both vitamins C and E may play roles in male fertility. In one study published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Medicine, doctors found that after one week of daily doses of 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C, sperm counts rose by some 140%.

More recently, a study published in the Archives of Andrology showed the antioxidants vitamin E and selenium improved the ability of sperm to swim -- a skill necessary to reach the egg.

Pisarska says one of the more interesting new food-fertility associations focuses on fish. In studies published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology a group of Hong Kong researchers found that couples with unexplained infertility as well as men with abnormal semen also had high blood levels of mercury. Not coincidentally, the men and women also reported a diet high in fish.

"If you are having trouble getting pregnant you might want to try eating less seafood," says Pisarska.

Since obesity is also considered a leading fertility blocker in women, Pisarska tells WebMD that for some women, cutting down on calories overall can give fertility a boost.

"If you have polycystic ovary disease, losing as little as 5% of your body weight can encourage ovulation and pregnancy," says Pisarska. In polycystic ovary disease there is absent or diminished ovulation, excess male hormones, and resistance to the action of the hormone insulin. Many of these women are obese or overweight.