UZ Leuven

Finally, male and female fertility can also be affected by many kinds of environmental and lifestyle factors and age can also play a role.

Certain drugs can temporarily or permanently affect fertility and this applies to both men and women. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy, used as cancer treatments, are particularly important in this respect. Both therapies can lead to permanent sterility. While young men can have their sperm cells frozen before beginning therapy, no ideal solution currently exists for women. Intensive research in this field is underway.

Frequent contact with some pesticides and chemicals (for example, occupational exposure) seems to affect sperm production.

Moreover, smoking is harmful to female fertility and increases the risk of miscarriage, premature birth, low birth weight and cot death. The effects of smoking on male fertility are less clear. Some researchers believe that the sperm of smokers decays considerably faster than the sperm of non-smokers.

Alcohol abuse is also detrimental to fertility and to the development of the embryo in the uterus. Among men, heavy alcohol use can seriously disrupt sperm production. Couples having difficulty conceiving would most probably do well to limit alcohol use when they are trying to conceive and to stop using alcohol completely during pregnancy.

Body weight also seems to play a role. Women with normal body weight become pregnant on average sooner than women whose weight is too high or too low. Among men, being overweight does not seem to have a direct effect on fertility. Obesity can be a problem for men during intercourse.

There are no indications that special diets have any clear influence on fertility. A varied, balanced diet is recommended for everyone, particularly for women wishing to conceive.

Finally, age is a very important element in a couple's fertility. The age of the woman in particular plays a major role. Women are at their most fertile between the ages of 20 and 30. Subsequently, their fertility declines systematically while, at the same time, numbers of miscarriages increase. By the age of 38, the chance of conceiving is approximately 10% per cycle. About this time, the chance of this pregnancy being spontaneously interrupted increases to almost 45%. It is also becoming increasingly clear that male fertility also begins to decline markedly after the age of 40.

• Print
• Send to friend