According to a study, women with high levels of stress are 29 per cent less likely to get pregnant, and an estimated one in seven couples in India has fertility problems, says Dr SHOBHA GUPTA
let us begin with a few facts:
· Too much stress may cause infertility among women, says research conducted in the US.
· Women with high levels of stress were 29 per cent less likely to get pregnant each month than those with lower levels, the researchers found.
· Stress is also the cause for major weight gain, leading to obesity.
· An estimated one in seven couples in India has fertility problems and mostly there is no known medical explanation.
· It is believed that 10 per cent of the general population suffers from some form of infertility.
· India has a population of over 1.2 billion; the number of Indians suffering from infertility is huge.
· Of every 100 couples reporting to fertility clinics, 40 per cent are cases of male infertility, 50 per cent are of women, and the remaining 10 per cent of both partners being infertile.
· Sitting for long hours at work stations is also contributing to infertility.
There have been controversies from a long time about whether stress can cause infertility or infertility causes stress. A research conducted in the US stated that stress causes infertility in women. Infertility is a term used to explain the inability of a woman to conceive after two years of constant efforts, whereas the term stress is probably the most used word in today’s world. We can say that both stress and infertility are co-related.
When diagnosed with infertility, many couples feel helpless and no longer in control of their bodies or their life plan. They become stressed. On the other hand, men who work in night shifts are more likely to be infertile, compared to men who work in morning shifts as their biological clock is immensely disturbed. They sleep during the day and to keep themselves awake, they often smoke, which damages the system further. Stress at workplace and sitting for long hours at work stations is also found to reduce the sperm count.
Factors contributing to stress, which cause infertility:
· Marital disturbance
· Job or business stress
· Personal injury or illness
· Death of close family member
· late marriage
Women with hectic jobs are most at risk, and are often most in denial about the stress in their lives. Swati Mishra (name changed), 32, working with an MNC had her first miscarriage due to stress. She was extremely stressed when she first came to us for counselling sessions. She also received IVF treatment at our centre, but after a few sessions we concluded that work stress was the main culprit.
Stress not only causes infertility, it is one of the reasons for weight gain too. Many times, stress may mess up our brain’s reward system and may cause us to crave more fat and sugar. Stress is not a good reason to treat oneself to a burger or chocolate or truck loads of ice cream. In fact, consuming high fat foods is more likely to lead to weight gain. Also, when we are stressed, we may be more likely to drive through the fast food place, rather than taking the time and energy to plan and cook a meal.
When it comes to losing weight, stress puts the body in ‘fight or flight’ mode from an evolutionary perspective and activates the sympathetic nervous system. This leads to the production of fat-promoting hormones viz cortisol and insulin that leads to weight gain. It also disrupts body’s hunger regulating hormones, causing one to eat more. All these factors contribute to weight gain, resulting in obesity, which further causes infertility. So, here stress is the major culprit.
Women are often found to be more stressed than men. Trying to get pregnant adds more pressure on an already stressed women. But thanks to technology, we have found the treatment for infertility through IVF or IUI. On the other hand, today women as well as men are also trying stress management techniques to overcome this problem.
Treatments:
· Numerous methods for managing stress are available today, including relaxation techniques such as yoga or meditation, and stress management strategies such as going on a vacation, deep breathing exercises etc.
· We also provide counselling sessions on one-to-one basis to couples so that they can speak their mind freely. This helps in overcoming their problems. People can also speak to doctors regarding their problems.
The writer is medical director and IVF specialist at Mothers lap IVF Centre