1. Egg Production Disorder
This is the most common cause of infertility in women.
An inexpensive method to detecting egg production disorder is by
taking the measurement of the basal body temperature. Disorders can
be broken down into two types – ovarian dysfunction &
hormonal disorder and advanced maternal age.
Ovarian Dysfunction
and Hormonal Disorders
Medical reasons can
range from disease to dysfunctions such as abnormal body weight
composition, stress and strenuous exercise. (Anovulation, Polycystic
Ovary Syndrome, Hyperprolactinemia, Thyroid disease, Luteal phase
defect, Hyperandrogenism, Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, life styles
and body weight).
Advanced Maternal Age
Advanced maternal age results in decreased
quality of egg production as well as other age related factors.
Recent studies indicate that in women over the age of 30, the rates of
successfully becoming pregnant decrease significantly.
Furthermore, very few women are fertile over the age of 45.
2. Abnormalities in the Female Reproductive
Tract
Female reproductive tract abnormalities can
encompass tubal disease (which is the case in 20% of infertile female
patients) and pelvic adhesions (endometriosis). Tubal disease and
Pelvic Inflammatory disease can occur when inflammation in the pelvis
causes irritation and scarring and are most common in women with multiple
sexual partners. Symptoms are pain in the lower abdomen, heavy
vaginal discharge, heavy menstrual periods and pain in the pelvis
during intercourse.
Pelvic adhesions
(Endometriosis) occur when cells from inside the lining of the uterus
find its way outside of the uterus and grow around the organs in the
pelvis. Symptoms include painful menstrual periods, pain during
sexual intercourse and heavy menstrual bleeding. Moderate and severe
endometriosis can be treated surgically once diagnosed.
3. Abnormalities
in the Implantation Process Including Early Defects in Embryo
Development
By using
sensitive pregnancy tests, it has been suggested that the total rate
of pregnancy loss after implantation is approximately 30%. When the
loss of fertilized oocytes before implantation is included,
approximately 46% of all pregnancies end before the pregnancy is
clinically perceived. In the postimplantation period, if only
clinically diagnosed pregnancies are considered, the generally
accepted figure for spontaneous miscarriage in the first trimester is
15%. Approximately 50–60% of these abortuses have chromosome
abnormalities. This suggests that a minimum of 7.5% of all human
conceptions is chromosomally abnormal.
The fact that
only 1 in 200 newborns have a chromosome abnormality attests to the
powerful selection mechanisms operating in early human gestation. In
each ovulatory cycle, only 30% of normally fertile couples can achieve
a pregnancy. Once conception is achieved, only 30% survive to birth.
Implantation
and Placentation: A normal
pregnancy is, of course, impossible without successful implantation
and placentation. After the 8-cell morula enters the uterine cavity
about 4 days after ovulation, a blastocyst (a preimplantation embryo
of varying cell number, from 30 to 200) is formed. Implantation (the
embedding of the blastocyst in the endometrial stroma) begins with the
loss of the zona pellucida (hatching) about 1--3 days after the morula
enters the uterine cavity.
Preparation
for Implantation: The change
from proliferative to secretory endometrium is an essential part of
achieving the receptive conditions required for implantation. The
endometrium is 10--14 mm thick at the time of implantation in the
midluteal phase. By this time, secretory activity has reached a peak,
and the endometrial cells are rich in glycogen and lipids. Even before
the blastocyst adheres to the surface epithelium, but after hatching
from the zona pellucida, a dialogue between the mother and the early
embryo has begun.
Early Pregnancy Factor (EPF)
has immunosuppressive properties and is associated with cell
proliferation and growth. Implantation consists of 3 stages:
apposition, adhesion, and invasion (also called migration to denote
its benign nature).
4. Problems with the woman's uterus and/or cervix
These problems include
uterine fibroids, uterine scar tissue, DES exposure,
uterine abnormalities, uterine agenesis (failure
of all or part of the uterus to develop during embryonic growth),
and cervical narrowing or "stenosis".
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appointment, please call us TODAY at
615-321-8899.
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