Do you want with all your desire to have a child but you can't get it? Do you think that you or your partner could be sterile and you want to get rid of doubts once and for all? Do you know that there are certain factors that could be causing you to not be able to reproduce?
Today many couples want to conceive children and try a thousand times without having desired results.
It should be mentioned that conceiving a child is a complex process that requires time and perseverance because the time needed to achieve it varies depending on each couple.
Couples take an average of 6 to 18 months to get pregnant.
It may seem like a simple process, but it involves several elements that need to complete a complex natural process, which requires some time, so it is important to be very patient and not despair.
It is normal that after months of failed attempts couples begin to feel impatient and that anxiety itself may be causing the blockage in the gestation process, since the nerves alter ovulation and that is the last thing that is intended when the goal is to conceive a child.
When these cases occur, tests and medical examinations are usually carried out to verify if there is sterility in any of the members of the couple.
However, it is important to note that sterility is different from infertility.
- The first is the inability to carry out a pregnancy because the gametes or the sexual organs do not work properly.
- Infertility is the inability to conceive a pregnancy.
Specialists consider the diagnosis of infertility if the couple has been trying to conceive for more than 1 year when they are under 25 years old and more than 7 months when they are older.
To find out if you are a sterile person, the only reliable way to find out is by going to the gynecologist to carry out the necessary tests to detect it.
The results of the tests are immediate, so the gynecologist can advise you with the multiple solutions and treatments that are available.
You must take into account the lifestyle that also influences, bad habits end up taking their toll on the body and in this case making pregnancy difficult, so it is important to lead a healthy life and a positive attitude.
12 important factors that affect your fertility
Although only a doctor can tell you if you are really sterile, there are certain aspects that could be preventing you from having children.
If you have tried everything to have a child and you suspect that you could be sterile, taking a look at this list may give you some clue as to what is happening.
Menstrual period
It is important that you have controlled the amount of blood that you expel during your periods, the cycles that it takes, the type of bleeding and the symptoms that you may suffer.
This is a key indicator to detect these types of cases, such as having great bleeding, severe pain, if it lasts longer than it should (taking into account that a normal period lasts between three and seven days).
In addition to the strong pains that may be suffered and are not frequent.
Age
This factor of nature is imminent in the biological process.
Women can conceive children from puberty to menopause, some women are more prone and others are not.
Even so, the age at which the woman reaches her peak and is optimally most fertile is between 20 and 25 years.
Currently, the average age to become a mother has been postponed to 35 years, since it has focused more on the professional field, so the fertility capacity decreases.
The quality of the eggs is lower and the chances of having a baby may be affected.
The fertile capacity of a woman depends on the number of follicles she produces.
If you are born with around 800,000-100,0000 follicles and lose about 2,000 with each menstruation, you have 400-500 periods during your life when you deplete these follicles.
After menopause fertility is generally absent.
The weight warns you
When there is a sudden change in weight, it is usually an increase in weight, it can indicate some type of health problem.
Overweight or obesity in women generate hormonal imbalances that affect the regulation of the menstrual period, which leads to a difficulty in the conception of pregnancy.
In addition to this, being overweight is related to the polycystic ovary. This syndrome is suffered by some women who do not produce enough hormones and the egg does not mature. Very irregular or even absent menstrual periods can occur (secondary amenorrhea).
This syndrome usually causes too much insulin to be produced, the hormone that helps regulate and store sugar levels.
As there is so much insulin, the body releases a large amount of male hormones known as androgens, which interfere with ovulation and make conception more difficult.
It is very important to shed those extra pounds before you get pregnant, as it greatly increases your chances of conceiving and promotes a healthy and uncomplicated pregnancy.
In addition to the polycystic ovary, being overweight can lead to diabetes or skin problems, which is negative for health and requires specific care.
In this way, it is important to control weight bearing in mind that a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 is obesity and significantly reduces the chances of pregnancy and if it is greater than 30 it indicates a serious health problem.
Neither by excess nor by default
Like being overweight, weight below the body mass index of 18 also causes complications when it comes to being a mother.
If the body weight is very low, the body goes into saving mode and the first thing that starts skimping is in the production of eggs because the brain interprets that the body is not properly nourished and needs to draw energy.
Reproduction is not an essential mechanism to stay alive, so the brain is ordering the regulation of egg production.
In some cases of extreme diets or weight less than 50 kilos in women, you can lose your period, which is very negative when it comes to getting pregnant.
Infections
Some infections can affect fertilization, since vaginal yeast or bacterial infections They alter the density of cervical mucus, affecting the number of eggs that are produced and preventing the passage of sperm, or obstructing the fallopian tubes.
Other infections can be infections in the ovaries, infections in the uterus, tuberculosis and pelvic inflammation.
The problem with these infections is that some show symptoms and are easy to diagnose, but others show nothing and go unnoticed until detected by culture or some other medical test.
Tobacco
Tobacco is an enemy at the time of getting pregnant. Smoking more than 10 cigarettes a day makes it harder to conceive.
The components of tobacco are very toxic and cause the maturation of the oocytes (an immature precursor of the ovule, or egg cell) to be less and an alteration in the number of chromosomes occurs, which can lead to a genetic disease.
With tobacco, higher abortion rates occur, since the receptive capacity of the endometrium decreases, ectopic pregnancies increase (pregnancy outside the uterus) and the movement of the cilia in the fallopian tubes slows down, thus interfering with the passage of gametes.
It is proven that women who smoke advance menopause between 1 and 3 years.
In the case of men, nicotine affects the seminal plasma that is responsible for transporting sperm, affecting their concentration and mobility.
Stress
Stress is associated with negative feelings and anxiety, which always go hand in hand in these cases because they are cause and consequence at the same time.
Usually a loop is created in which worry or tension appears, then anxiety or helplessness about the situation and then stress. They can alternate between them and it is very difficult to cut this destructive spiral that causes tense and discordant environments to be created, usually with the couple and then on a broader level.
In the face of stress, it is very important to work on communication with the couple and even more so when it is an issue that affects both of them and they are directly emotionally involved.
They must take care of themselves and take care of each other, since support is fundamental on a psychological level for a pregnant woman.
Similarly, the male with anxiety has lower testosterone secretion, a greater tendency to impotence, decreased libido and sexual performance, and impaired sperm production.
There is no key mechanism by which stress reduces fertility but it is known to affect the mechanisms involved in the nervous system, the endocrine system and the immune system.
Physical exercise
Physical exercise helps control weight, keep fit, lower cholesterol, and lower the risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease.
It favors the production of hormones and their regulation, it is very beneficial to eliminate stress and anxiety that affect our body so negatively, thus facilitating sleep and rest for the body and mind.
For pregnant women, it reduces the pain and discomfort typical of pregnancy, helps in preparing for childbirth by strengthening muscles and increasing resistance, making us healthier.
It's easier to get back in shape more quickly after giving birth.
Studies have shown that exercising during pregnancy reduces the risk of developing pre-eclampsia (hypertension in pregnancy) or gestational diabetes (pregnancy hormones block the action of insulin).
Doing 20 to 30 minutes of physical activity every day improves the body's ability to conceive by strengthening muscles and improving the regulatory action of hormones and their production.
Job
The type of work and the work environment largely affect a person's state of health, so that a work environment with environmental pollutants (heavy metals, pesticides, radiation, etc.) can affect hormonal balance.
In the male case, working at high temperatures affects the quality of life of the sperm. Wearing very tight clothing such as underwear or pants, taking baths with very hot water also increases the testicular temperature and therefore affects the sperm.
Caffeine
Sterility and abortion are more recurrent in people who consume caffeine daily.
This substance alters the body and ends up affecting the gestation capacity.
It is advised not to drink more than two cups of coffee a day, as it can affect reproduction more.
Caffeine decreases the production of the hormone prolactin in the blood and when this happens it increases the difficulty of conceiving.
Diet
Food is a key factor in the conception process.
An unbalanced and low-nutrient diet negatively affects both men and women who want to be parents.
Some diets can cause infertility because depriving the body of certain essential nutrients is harmful and directly affects health by depriving the body of reproductive capacity.
It is advisable to reduce the trans fats present in industrial products such as pastries, fried foods ...
Also control the consumption of animal proteins such as sausages, red meat, seafood and thus favoring the consumption of vegetable proteins such as legumes, nuts, soybeans, vegetables, since these nutrients are beneficial for fertility.
Some of the nutrients that promote reproductive activity
- Vitamin B6: whole grains, nuts and legumes
- Vitamin C: oranges, lemons and kiwis
- Vitamin A: carrots, pumpkins, apricots and green leafy vegetables
- B12 vitamin: eggs, meat, dairy products and their derivatives
- Vitamin E: olive oil, almonds and seeds
- Folic acid: meat, seafood, vegetables and legumes)
- Zinc, which promotes the mobility of sperm: red meat, peanuts and cashews
- Selenium, which increases sperm quality: wheat germ, shellfish and seaweed
- Iron, which is very important in women's fertility: legumes, red meat, liver and eggs
- Arginine: dairy, meat, chicken and chocolate
- L-carnitine: red meat, brewer's yeast, wheat germ and soy
- Isoflavones: soy
- Coenzyme Q10: fish, nuts and soybean oil
Alcohol
Alcohol can vary a woman's prolactin levels, the hormone involved in conception. In men, it produces alterations in the quality of sperm and can cause erectile dysfunction.
Actually, there is a global concern regarding sterility, but if you have already tried to have a child And you still have not achieved it, perhaps after this review of the most frequent causes of sterility you can be closer to fulfilling your dream of bringing a child into the world.
