Invisible man-made chemicals are being linked to increasing infertility

Infertility: handle with care

Extract from the Sunday Telegraph:

"Roughly one third of infertility remains 'unexplained', a third is female-related - apart from the fact that women are trying for children later, sexually transmitted infections and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are on the rise - and the rest is male-related. Studies across Europe have recorded an alarming drop in sperm counts and a study not yet released has found the same here in Britain. 'Something has changed in the past 20 or 30 years,' says Allan Pacey, the secretary of the British Fertility Society. 'We don't know what it is, but we need to be very concerned.'

Many modern-day habits are known to play a part - drinking, smoking and overeating for example. What we don't know is whether there's something else going on - in the air we breathe, water we drink and food we eat. The thousands of invisible chemicals that have poured into our world since the Second World War to make life non-breakable, non-stick and flame-resistant are being linked to miscarriage, PCOS, endometriosis, and low sperm counts - as well as testicular cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer.

Shanna Swan, an epidemiologist at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry in America, has spent the past 20 years studying environmental reproductive risks. 'There's no question now that chemical exposures impair fertility,' she says. 'We have 80,000 chemicals in circulation and when we look we see strong evidence that comes out constantly in scientific journals and in small conferences. Yet somehow we haven't reached the tipping point where people take notice. With global warming, it took 20 years. The American surgeon general said in 1964 that cigarettes caused cancer. How long did that take to get around? Maybe it takes a disaster - and I think impairing our ability to reproduce is potentially the most serious disaster there is.'

Two highly ubiquitous chemicals, phthalates (the 'ph' is silent) and bisphenol A, are the cause of most concern. Both chemicals are everywhere - tin cans, baby bottles, water bottles, CDs, plastic toys, the list is endless - and because of their 'leachy' nature (they're not very good at binding to their products) they are in us, too. In a study by Shanna Swan of mothers and babies, all the babies had measurable phthalate levels - and those exposed to the most baby-care products had the highest. Often described as 'endocrine disrupters', phthalates mimic the female hormone oestrogen, so could play havoc with hormones and reproductive systems - particularly in men.

'There's good evidence that sperm counts are falling and that something environmental is going on,' confirms Pacey. Male infertility is now the reason for half of British couples having IVF. While our grandfathers probably had a sperm count of about 120 million in one millilitre of seminal fluid, the average male sperm count now stands at about 60 million. (Anything less than 25/30 million is classified as infertile.) At the same time testicular cancer, which is linked to low sperm counts, is rising fast."

If obesity is the cause of your infertility then avoiding salt and salty food would help you. -Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

vulnerable groups

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

See FAT RETENTION

Children and Obesity

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

Over half of new mothers who die 'are obese': - from the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health

Over half of new mothers who die 'are obese'

(Cemech = the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health)

Extract from The Telegraph:

"More than half of women who die after having a child are overweight, as the obesity epidemic drives up the death rate among new mothers, according to a report."

"Obesity is one of the biggest problems facing fertility doctors and obstetricians because of the difficulty that overweight women have in conceiving and, later, the increased risks they face during pregnancy.

The Cemach report comes after the British Fertility Society called for more women to be told to lose weight before they have IVF in order to help them conceive naturally and give birth safely.

The NHS should not fund IVF treatment for women with a body mass index of more than 35, the society said.

Obese women are at greater risk of miscarriage and are more likely to need a caesarean section delivery, which has its own risks and complications.

They are also at increased risk of high blood pressure and blood clots, both of which can prove fatal. Babies born to obese mothers are more likely to suffer congenital abnormalities, be stillborn or die shortly after birth."

Pregnant women are at increased risk from obesity because of hormone changes during pregnancy - e.g. higher oestrogen levels. - Oestrogen is not just a sex hormone; it is a steroid, and in common with many other steroids, when its concentration in the blood increases, the walls of the veins relax and become more vulnerable to the incursion of extra salt/sodium and its accompanying water. - This extra water is, of course, a form of fluid retention: obesity is caused by fluid retention brought about by sodium/salt sensitivity. These pregnant women have become more sensitive to salt/sodium. This is why dieting does not work. The truth should be told - namely that to lose weight it is necessary to give up dieting and concentrate on reducing salt intake. To avoid unhealthy weight gain and many other health problems, it is very important that pregnant mothers keep their salt intake low.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and heart problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

advice for pregnant mothers

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

Wider implications of the flawed theory that excess calorie intake causes obesity

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Obese women and fertility treatment

'Deny obese women fertility treatment'

Extract from the Telegraph article:


"Obese women should be refused fertility treatment and instead told to take more exercise, says a leading advisory organisation.

Overweight mothers-to-be must also lose weight so they are of a healthy size to enable them to give birth safely, the British Fertility Society has said in new guidelines issued today.

The NHS should not fund treatment to obese women who have a body mass index of more than 35 — the equivalent of a 5ft 6in tall woman weighing 15 and a half stone, they said."

It is tragic that obese people are still given advice such as the above advice to take more exercise, because, while exercise can bring lots of benefits, it does not reduce obesity and is often hazardous for people who are obese.

Obesity is not caused by too many calories or too little exercise. It is caused by fluid retention in people sensitive to salt, and it can easily be reduced by giving up eating salt and salty food.

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.