Lifestyle factors and reproductive health: taking control of your fertility

Abstract

Approximately 10 to 15% of couples are impacted by infertility. Recently, the pivotal role that lifestyle factors play in the development of infertility has generated a considerable amount of interest. Lifestyle factors are the modifiable habits and ways of life that can greatly influence overall health and well-being, including fertility. Many lifestyle factors such as the age at which to start a family, nutrition, weight, exercise, psychological stress, environmental and occupational exposures, and others can have substantial effects on fertility; lifestyle factors such as cigarette smoking, illicit drug use, and alcohol and caffeine consumption can negatively influence fertility while others such as preventative care may be beneficial. The present literature review encompasses multiple lifestyle factors and places infertility in context for the couple by focusing on both males and females; it aims to identify the roles that lifestyle factors play in determining reproductive status. The growing interest and amount of research in this field have made it evident that lifestyle factors have a significant impact on fertility.

Substance Use and Preconception Care: A Review of the Literature

“…Further, caffeine intake in women prior to pregnancy has not been conclusively shown to affect fertility; however, it may increase their risk for spontaneous abortion in the first trimester (29)(30)(31). Even though there is conflicting evidence in the literature about the effects of substance use and fertility, it is recommended that men and women cease use of these substances for fertility, preconception health, and overall good health (6,17,18,21,23,24,32).…”

“…Much like male fertility, evidence is not conclusive as to whether alcohol consumption has an impact on female fertility (21,22). There is evidence, however, that excessive alcohol intake in males is associated with testicular atrophy, decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, and reduced effectiveness of assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedures (17,23,24). Although the evidence was minimal, anabolic steroids and recreational drugs can cause damage to sperm, but the sperm may recover with discontinuation of use of steroids and drugs (17).…”

Male Infertility; Evidences, Risk Factors, Causes, Diagnosis and Management in Human

“…The H 2 O 2 caused a dose-dependent deleterious effect on sperm DNA integrity and sperm function in both fertile and infertile group, however, in infertile group effect was more severe. Our previous study shows that DNA integrity of spermatozoa harshly deteriorate at 300 μM of H 2 O 2 within 10 min of incubation period when incubated in vitro though, sperm motility, vitality and other sperm functions did not affected at this level [99].…”

The impact of ovulation induction and ovarian stimulation on the risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension and on neonatal outcomes: A case/control study

“…Unlike in the literature, the women pregnant after infertility treatments did not differ in age, but mean age was high in the total cohort (29.7 AE 5). We could not adjust for health behaviours, which can differ between couples who conceive naturally and those who conceive following ART [34,35], and the size of some of the mutually exclusive study groups was small. It has been assumed that the metabolic perturbations in PCOS patients could lead to cardiovascular impairments that heighten the risk of having subsequent cardiovascular disease [36]; in our population with high GDM prevalence, after adjustment PCOS per se was associated with PIH.…”