Fertility and sexual health

Fertility: General Questions and Answers

SEEING A SPECIALIST Q: I am wondering if it is possible to conceive with PCOS, thyroid disease, and Factor 5 blood disorder in a fairly reasonable time. We have been trying for a year and have now been referred to a specialist. I have two other children but have never had to see a specialist. I don't think I can handle the ups and downs of infertility much longer - what can a specialist do that my regular doctor can't?

Hostile Cervical Fluid (Mucas)

Part of what makes understanding fertility so difficult is that there are so many aspects that need to be considered, from sperm motility to egg quality and everything in between. Cervical mucus, a jelly-like substance produced by glands in the cervical canal, is a factor in a woman's fertility. Just how important a factor it is remains controversial.

Immunological Testing and Treatment for Infertility

A new ELISA-based hormonal test, measuring the levels of Inhibin B in serum on day 3 of the menstrual cycle. Since only the Follicular Granulosa cells secrete this hormone, its level reflects on the potential of the ovary to grow follicles, which physicians refer to as 'ovarian reserve'. Women with low levels of the hormone were found to have more impaired ovulation in the course of the IVF cycle, lower pregnancy rates, higher cancellation rates and higher abortion rates. Inhibin B is secreted by the granulosa cells while estradiol is secreted by several other cell types in the ovary.

Ureaplasma and Mycoplasma

When you complain of burning on urination, feeling like you have to urinate all the time, getting up in the night to urinate or having urgency to urinate when your bladder is full because it hurts so much, you usually have a urinary tract infection. Sometimes, your doctor will order a culture and if the culture grows no bacteria, that usually means no infection or that you have interstitial cystitis.

Hyperprolactinemia (High Prolactin) Causes

Normal ovulation is a complex process that requires many things to happen properly and at the correct time with the proper hormone levels. Often subtle hormonal imbalances or ovulation abnormalities result in decreased fertility. One hormone imbalance that can affect fertility is prolactin levels. Excessive prolactin levels in nonpregnant women is known as hyperprolactinemia.

Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism is a disorder in which there is a lack of normal thyroid production or secretion of thyroid hormone. In other words, the thyroid gland is underactive so there follows an underproduction of thyroid hormone. Your thyroid is a small bowtie or butterfly-shaped gland, located in your neck, wrapped around the windpipe, and is located below the Adam's Apple area. The thyroid produces several hormones, of which two are key: triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4).

Turner's Syndrome

Turnerîs Syndrome is a chromosomal condition causing short stature and infertility in women and girls. Other manifestations of this syndrome include: webbing of the skin of the neck, absent or retarded development of secondary sexual characteristics, absence of menstruation, coarctation (narrowing) of the aorta, and abnormalities of the eyes and bones. The condition is either diagnosed at birth because of the associated anomalies, or at puberty when there is absence of menses and delayed development of normal secondary sexual characteristics.

Hydrosalphinx

Hydrosalpinx is yet another cause of infertility. A hydrosalpinx occurs when a damaged fallopian tube fills with fluid. In a normal functioning fallopian tube, fluid is both secreted and then later reabsorbed. As tubes become damaged they are still able to secrete fluid but can no longer reabsorb it. In general, a hydrosalpinx occurs when the very end of the tube is blocked and then the tube fills with clear, watery fluid. Causes

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

It is the most common endocrine disorder in women, the leading cause of infertility, and the most underdiagnosed disease in the United States. Affecting an estimated ten million women in the United States, PCOS, or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is characterized by a myriad of seemingly unrelated symptoms like weight gain, irregular periods and excessive facial hair. Scarier still, women with PCOS are seven times more likely to have a heart attack, 40% will develop Type 2 Diabetes, and are at a higher risk for endometrial cancer. And most women don't even know they have it.

Eating Disorders and Infertility

As many of us have found as we battle this foe called "infertility, ú so many factors can play a part in whether or not we will be able to conceive. Unfortunately, here is an additional aspect to consider. Eating disorders affect more than 5 million American women in their teens through child-bearing years. Unfortunately, these millions of women may not even know that their fertility, in addition to their health in general, is at risk. Anorexia Nervosa

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) Diagnosis and Treatment

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) is an infection which occurs when bacteria enter the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries. There are a variety of bacteria which can cause PID, but most infections are caused by the same organisms that cause sexually transmitted diseases like Gonorrhea and Chlamydia. In most cases of PID bacteria enter the vagina during sex and ascend into the cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries. Bacteria may also enter the body after an IUD insertion, childbirth, miscarriage, elective abortion or other invasive gynecological procedure.

Overweight and Infertile

Even in this age of advanced medical knowledge, many women still struggle with the prejudices that come with being overweight. We're often treated as inferior - socially, professionally, certainly by the fashion industry, and even in the medical community. While being overweight is a medical condition, it is still perceived by many people, including some physicians, as a character flaw. We're told by many different sources that if only we would just exercise some self-discipline, all our problems would go away, including our health problems.

Endometriosis

What is Endometriosis? Endometriosis is a common and chronic gynecological disease that can result in cyclic pelvic pain that occurs in conjunction with a woman's periods. About 10% of women of reproductive age and up to 50% of women with infertility have endometriosis. That amounts to approximately 5.5 million women in the United States and Canada.

Lifestyle Factors That Affect Fertility

Dealing with infertility is particularly difficult because couples find that they are no longer in control of their reproductive choices. They can't decide when to have a baby, how many they will have, or how far to space children apart. Success is largely dependent on a wide combination of factors ranging from emotional and financial resources, access to adequate medical care, and sometimes, just blind luck. However, there are some lifestyle factors that affect fertility.

Balanced Translocation

A balanced translocation is a condition in which the correct number of chromosomes are present, but two pieces of chromosomal material have switched places. The individual who has a balanced translocation usually appears completely normal and healthy, but when a carrier attempts to have children, that is when problems are encountered. Those who have a balanced translocation are plagued by infertility, repeated miscarriages, and their offspring are at an increased risk for birth defects and chromosomal abnormalities.

Klinefelter's Syndrome

Klinefelter's syndrome only occurs in males and results from a congenital abnormality of the sex chromosomes, X and Y. Normally a male has only one X and one Y chromosome and a female has two of the X-chromosomes. In Klinefelter's syndrome, two or more X-chromosomes are present in addition to one Y chromosome. The X-chromosomes contain a large amount of genetic material that has many effects beyond those that determine sex. Klinefelter's syndrome usually is not present in other family members, but occurs as a new mutation.

Diagnosis of Asherman's Syndrome

Asherman's Syndrome is a gynecological disorder causing a decrease in menstrual flow, abdominal pain, cessation of menstruation and infertility. In females with the disorder, such symptoms and findings occur due to inflammation of the lining of the uterus (endometritis) and the development of bands of scar tissue abnormally joining portions of the uterus (intrauterine adhesions and synechiae). Dr. Stefan Semchyshyn describes Ashermanîs Syndrome as -a house that is being overrun by cobwebs.° The scar tissue becomes so dense that is impossible for a baby to grow.

Natural Family Planning

What is it and how does it work? Natural family planning (NFP) helps women recognise the fertile and infertile times of their menstrual cycles to plan or avoid a pregnancy. A woman's fertile time (when she can get pregnant) lasts for eight to nine days in each menstrual cycle. An egg lives for up to 24 hours and is released 12 to 16 days before the next period. Sperm can live for up to seven days. This means if you have sex seven days before you ovulate (release an egg), you could get pregnant.

The Contraceptive Injection

What is it and how does it work? The contraceptive injection contains a hormone called progestogen and is a long-term method of contraception. It's injected into a muscle and the hormone is released very slowly into the body. There are two types of injection : Depo-Provera provides contraceptive protection for three months (12 weeks). Noristerat provides contraceptive protection for two months (eight weeks).

The G-spot

Where is it? If you have one (and that's a big if), it's 2.5cm to 5cm (1in to 2in) inside the vagina on the front wall. You should be able to feel it with your finger. If you're not sexually aroused it may be no bigger than a pea; once you're aroused it increases to the size of a 2p piece. It's actually more a of a zone than a spot. If you want to explore and find out whether you have one, feel for an area that's rough, a bit like a walnut, rather than smooth and silky like the rest of the vaginal wall. What is it?