Fertility Road Issue 44 May/June 2018
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Fertility Road Issue 44 May/June 2018

Fertility Road Magazine Fertility Road Magazine

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31.05.2018 Views

BODY isa ttfield Which types of exercise improve fertility? | fertilityroadom | fertilityroadmag | follow us @fertilityroad

BODY Your weight can affect your fertility and depending on which type of exercise you do, it could be detrimental to your fertility chances. But also, there are actual exercise regimes that enhance your fertility too. So, if you need to lose weight to get fertility fit, I'll explain which exercises are good for fertility, but first let's review how your weight affects your fertility. If you and or your partner are experiencing infertility, it is advisable to be as healthy as you can be, to get the best out come from any fertility treatment and to have a healthy pregnancy. The NHS link exercise to fertility and research shows that if you have a healthy BMI (body mass index) between 20-25 BMI, you can improve your chances to conceive. If you are under or over weight this can affect your ability to conceive. Obese women are less likely to become pregnant through IVF and assisted reproduction. Carrying excess weight can affect the function of the ovaries, due to changes in hormones and metabolism rate. Obese women have less success with assisted fertility treatment, because of the poor response to fertility drugs that stimulate ovulation. The same can be said for being underweight, as this can also affect your hormones too and impact your fertility. Maintaining an optimum weight is good for both partners experiencing infertility, and this has been the current focus within NHS proposals. In the South West of England, they propose to refuse NHS funded IVF treatment, if the male partners have a BMI of 30 plus. As 30 plus BMI, is classed as medically obese and could affect fertility chances. The proposal by the clinical commissioning group, is to change NHS funded fertility treatment policy, to ensure men get to a healthy weight, before the NHS fund investigations and fertility treatments with their partners. So, which type of exercise workouts enhances fertility? Moderate exercising, rather than excessive, exhausting workouts, are likely to be the most appropriate type of activity, for healthy men and women trying to conceive. Studies found that women who performed high-frequency, highintensity exercise had a lower rate of fertility. A cohort study was carried out by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, led by Dr Gudmundsdottir and his team. Which investigated the association between the levels of physical activity, and the groups fertility rates against the parity (number of children) they had in a group. Over 24,000 women participated, and women were excluded who had conditions that were known to affect their fertility, such as poor health, and fertility problems. As the study attempted to make their findings relevant to healthy women. Their levels of exercise were assessed and categorised as: • Never • Less than once a week • 2-3 times a week • Almost every day Along with the frequency of exercise, the intensity was also categorised as: ‘taking it easy’, ‘loss of breath’ and ‘to exhaustion’. The group’s fertility was assessed at the follow-up assessments, where the women reported on: their age they had children; and the number of children they had; and whether they had difficulty conceiving within one year of trying for conception. Other factors that affect fertility were considered in the study to include: • Age • Marital status • Body mass index (BMI) • Smoking • Alcohol consumption The fertility status of the group were compared and the results showed that “Increased frequency and intensity of physical activity was associated with increased infertility” Results showed that “women who were active on most days of the week were 3.2 times more likely to be infertile than inactive women. Women who exercised ‘to exhaustion’ were 2.3 times more likely to be infertile than women who said they ‘take it easy’”. The researchers concluded that “fertility is negatively affected by physical activity of an extreme intensity and frequency” Studies show that highintensity, prolongs strenuous workouts can: • Increase cortisol levels • Lower thyroid hormones • Affect metabolism • Disturb ovulation • Menstrual cycle | fertilityroadmag | follow us @fertilityroad fertilityroad.com | 19

BODY<br />

isa ttfield<br />

Which<br />

types of<br />

exercise<br />

improve<br />

fertility?<br />

| fertilityroadom<br />

| fertilityroadmag | follow us @fertilityroad

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