photo/Kratochvil

Headed up by lead researcher Dr. Jorge Chavarro, a research fellow in the department of nutrition at the school, his results showed daily male soy consumption lead to 41 million fewer sperm per milliliter; as compared to males who do not eat soy products; in a study conducted on 99 men who participated in the collection of this data. Average sperm counts are between 80-120 million per milliliter.The correlation had an even greater impact on over-weight or obese males.

Soy products included were soy milk, tofu, tofu and soy sausages, tempeh, soy burgers, soy bacon, soy cheese, soy ice cream and yogurts as well as numerous other soy-based products.

Although still inconclusive, the culprit may lie in increased male estrogen levels/activity as a result of soy intake. Raised male estrogen levels are now believed to have a negative effect on sperm count and production, however Chavarro says these findings are preliminary and more data is necessary on the correlation.

These preliminary results are available in the Oxford Journals online under Human Reproduction.

According to the Mayo Clinic, less than half the men with sperm counts between 12.5 and 25 million sperm per milliliter are able to get their partner pregnant and less than one-quarter with sperm counts less than 12.5 end up impregnating their partners.

The good news however is, there are treatments available to remedy low sperm count.

If you and your partner have been trying to get pregnant for 6 months (for those over 35) to one year (for those under 35), consider scheduling an appointment with your doctor, urologist, reproductive endocrinologist or an infertility specialist to have your sperm analyzed and begin a treatment plan if deemed necessary. It is also advisable the female see her doctor or OB/GYN to check for fertility issues as well. Boosting female fertility can sometimes compensate for a lower sperm production level.

Generally, to achieve pregnancy in a partner, the hypothalamus or pituitary glands in a man’s brain must produce normal hormonal levels. If your doctor finds your levels are too low, he may recommend gonadotropin injections. For some men, normal levels may be achieved within a month or two, for others, it can take up to a year of injections. These levels can be diagnosed by simple in-office blood work.

A common cause of male infertility is varicoceles. This is a swollen vein or veins in the scrotum. This may cause only slight discomfort, if any, but can affect fertility. A varicocele can lower sperm count and is sometimes responsible for abnormally shaped sperm. A simple surgical correction can often remedy this setback. Testing for this issue is often detected by use of an ultra-sound.

An infection of the male reproductive tract can be identified with a simple blood test. High numbers of white blood cells may be a sign of an infection within the reproductive tract. A dose of antibiotics may cure the infection and restore normalcy.

Lack of zinc and folic acid in a man’s diet can lead to lower sperm count. A Danish study revealed men who added both a zinc and folic acid supplement to their diets increased their chances for impregnating their partners.

To maintain or achieve a higher healthy sperm count, doctors also advise men not smoke, avoid excessive drinking, exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight, avoid hot baths and saunas, avoid tight clothing restricting the scrotal region, remove the cell phone from the front pocket and not put the laptop computer on the lap as it causes an increase in scrotal temperature.

It is also advisable to keep environmental toxins at bay. Exposure to toxic chemicals like bleach and paints or pesticides can reduce sperm count or even change the morphology of the sperm.

Researchers at the university, lead by Dr. Yeo, followed 79 women with a history of preeclampsia from 2001 to 2006 to determine the differences between women who walked for exercise and women who stretched.

Yeo and her teams’ findings showed that stretching could in fact provide extra protection against preeclampsia because stretchers produced more transferrin than walkers did. Transferrin is a plasma protein that transports iron through the blood and protects against oxidative stress on the body.

They say these new findings are contrary to the former belief that rigorous exercise was the way to alleviate preeclampsia risk.

Preeclampsia, also called toxemia or pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), is a condition that affects between 5% and 8% of pregnancies each year, and accounts for numerous maternal and fetal issues worldwide.

Women who may be prone to the disease are those who have a previous personal history or family history of preeclampsia, those with a history of high blood pressure, those with PCOS, those carrying multiples, those with autoimmune disorders or Lupus, those over 40, those with a body mass index of more than 30 % and those with poor nutritional habits.

Additionally, women who do not consume a healthy diet, remain sedentary, and who do not take the required prenatal supplements before and throughout their pregnancy may increase their chances of contracting preeclampsia. Although preeclampsia is often easily detected with noticeable symptoms, there are instances where it can come about from nowhere, endangering the life of both mother and child if gone untreated.

According to the Preeclampsia Foundation at www.preeclampsia.org, preeclampsia, toxemia, PIH, PET, as well as ephegesis gestosis refer to serious, closely related hypertensive conditions of pregnancy.

The foundation says toxemia is actually an older term used, which was based on a belief that the condition was the result of toxins or poisons in the bloodstream.

Preeclampsia can lead to eclampsia in the later stages of pregnancy, if not monitored. Eclampsia is one of the most serious complications of pregnancy and can lead to eclamptic convulsions or seizures that may lead to coma, brain damage, maternal or infant death.

In an effort to reduce blood pressure and preeclampsia symptoms, anti-hypertensive meds may be prescribed, and in rare instances, diuretics. A more recent clinical approach is to use magnesium sulfate.

If the mother or child’s health is at risk and blood pressure cannot be controlled, steroid treatment may be advised to help mature the baby’s lungs and ready him for an early delivery.

Those with a history of preeclampsia may have a restricted diet and exercise routine outlined for them by their health care provider in an attempt to stave off the harmful illness.

On a final note from the study at Chapel Hill; researchers found that at the end of the participants’ pregnancies, almost 15 percent of the women in the walking group had developed preeclampsia and less than 5 percent of the women from the stretching group actually developed the dangerous condition.

Signs of Preeclampsia

When a pregnant woman’s blood pressure readings reach 140/90, more than twice in six hours, it is often a sign of preeclampsia. Other signs related to the onset of preeclampsia are swelling and excess protein in the urine.

If a pregnant woman experiences any of the following symptoms, she should contact her doctor immediately to check for preeclampsia and/or determine the cause of the issue.

• High blood-pressure
• Severe headaches
•  Swelling
•  Changes in vision
• Upper abdominal pain, usually under the ribs on the right side
•  Nausea or vomiting
• Dizziness
• Decreased urine output

Generally, preeclampsia does not affect pregnant women prone to the illness until after the 20th week of pregnancy.

After a doctor closely monitors a woman’s blood pressure, tests urine for protein levels and diagnoses preeclampsia, the healthcare provider may do additional tests to check that the liver and kidneys are functioning properly.

Additional blood work may be required to see if the blood has the normal number of platelets.

And finally, monitoring the baby’s development is of the utmost importance at this time as it is vital to be certain the baby is continuing to receive sufficient oxygen and nutrients. A steroid treatment may be given in an effort to mature the baby’s lungs.

In 1953 the first (fowl) sperm cryopreservation was reported. In 1986, Australian fertility specialist Dr. Christopher Chen reported the world’s first pregnancy using slow frozen oocytes (eggs) from a British controlled-rate freezer.

For many years doctors recommended a controlled-rate and slow freezing cryopreservation process to store eggs which offered less than exemplary results for women hoping to become pregnant. Prior to 2002, the success rate of live births from frozen eggs was a mere 1-3% globally.

Today however, an innovative new flash-freezing procedure known as Vitrification is on the rise showcasing stellar results at fertility clinics across the globe.

Vitrification is the latest breakthrough in egg freezing. It is a rapid freezing technique in which a high concentration of cryoprotectant (which is like a form of anti-freeze) is used in place of the water in the cell. Now free of ice and crystals, (which in the past had diminished egg survival rates) the resultant egg is now a solid glass-like cell. Eggs can successfully be stored for years. Most doctors seem to agree that this new procedure greatly improves the chances of egg survival during the freezing and subsequent thawing process.

When a woman is ready to use her stored frozen eggs an embryologist will need to inject the hardened shell with a needle carrying sperm for fertilization to occur. This technique is known as ICSI or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection.

A female egg is the largest cell in the human body. Containing a large amount of water, the ice crystals that form during a slow freeze can jeopardize the integrity of the cell.

The vitrification process is showing enormous improvement in egg survival rates, fertilization, pregnancies and ultimately births.

As with the formerly widely used slow-freeze cryopreservation technique, resultant chromosomal abnormalities remain consistent with those not using either of these freezing methods.

According to a report from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine’s official journal Fertility and Sterility, “the techniques of vitrification of oocytes and the subsequent warming process being used today are producing results equal to those using fresh oocytes and are, certainly, far superior to those utilizing slow-freezing techniques”.

With major advancements in our knowledge of egg/oocyte preservation, oocyte physiology and new laboratory techniques, the success of egg preservation is rapidly changing.

With egg/oocyte survival rates of over 90% after vitrification and warming, fertilization rates of 75%–90%, pregnancy rates of 32%–65%, and live-birth rates of over 50% , these numbers bring new hope to those who have had to delay pregnancy.

There is a growing faction of women in both the US and in the UK who are rejecting traditional medical advice and hospitals, and opting to stay home and give birth with no drugs, no midwife and no medical support. Supporters’ suggest it is how having a baby was always meant to be, but doctors warn freebirthing could have catastrophic outcomes.

A supporter of home birthing, Jana Kutarna, and a contributing writer for Pregnancy Solutions says women should take charge of giving birth. “Many women don’t realize that in our culture they are trained to give away the responsibility of their birthing to doctors and to midwives. In reality, insurance companies are not responsible for the birth, only the mother is”. And with that mindset, Jana delivered a healthy baby girl at home with no help from a doctor or even a midwife; guided only by a mother’s instinct.

The Discovery Health Channel continues to air the documentary “Freebirthing”. This unassisted childbirth documentary follows the story of 3 women preparing to give birth at home without any medical assistance.

The remarkable footage of the extraordinary deliveries is shown in their entirety.

Initially, 9 pregnant women who were planning to deliver at home were interviewed for the doc and all 9 women went on to deliver successfully. 2 sought non-emergency medical care following delivery; one for stitches, the other for slow placenta.

Even celebrities are raising awareness of staying at home to birth a baby the natural way.

Actress, talk show host and activist Rikki Lake recently produced a documentary entitled “The Business of being Born”. After Lake felt disenchanted with her first child’s delivery in a medical setting, Lake opted for home delivery the second time round. Not only does she talk the talk, she walks the walk. Lake successfully delivered a healthy baby girl, cameras running, in the peace and quiet of her own home in NYC in this documentary.

To sustain a healthy pregnancy, women must maintain healthy levels of progesterone at all times.

As a woman’s body prepares for ovulation, progesterone levels go up. The corpus luteum can stimulate the production of progesterone for about two weeks and if a conception occurs, the pregnancy itself takes over the stimulation of progesterone. With no pregnancy, the lining of the uterus deteriorates and a period begins.

If a newly pregnant woman’s progesterone level begins to diminish, then miscarriage would be imminent.

Many women who have experienced one or more miscarriages or are known to have a luteal phase defect (LPD) are being presented with a new option by their providers.

Prometrium, a synthetic form of progesterone that may help maintain a pregnancy and ward off miscarriage. Normally prescribed to menopausal women requiring hormone therapy and/or women experiencing abnormal periods, Prometrium can also be prescribed to women experiencing spotting or bleeding early in the first trimester or women with a history of recurrent miscarriage.

Available in tablet form a doctor will generally prescribe a 100-200mg dose to be taken orally once or twice a day. Suppositories and cream are available as well.

To determine the efficacy and safety of progestogens like Prometrium as a preventative therapy against miscarriage, a recent study (by Haas DM, Ramsey PS ‘Progestogen for preventing miscarriage’ Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 2) was conducted on 2118 women who participated in 15 trials. The study revealed no significant difference between progestogen and placebo or no treatment groups for a majority of the participants.

However, in a subgroup analysis of three trials involving women who had recurrent miscarriages (3 or more), treatment showed a statistically significant decrease in the miscarriage rate compared to placebo or no treatment.

Additionally, no significant adverse effects from taking Prometrium were reported regarding mother and child at this time, however many people feel there are not enough facts supporting its safety and warranting its overuse.

According to their own website, the most common adverse events reported in (postmenopausal) women receiving prometrium 200 mg were: breast tenderness, dizziness, abdominal bloating, vaginal discharge, chest pain, and diarrhea.

And most importantly, they actually warn not to use while pregnant. 

Further research indicated the long-term maternal and neonatal/fetal adverse effects of progestogen administration in early pregnancy also warrant further investigation.

Until then many non-supporters feel it is imperative Progestogen be removed from the treatment list for preventing miscarriage. Increasing awareness among policy-makers, health-care providers and patients about the fact that the practice is not based on evidence is a good start.