|
|
|
|
Title: |
Overweight men may face fertility issues |
|
Posted on: |
24/10/2009 1:25 am |
|
Details: |
By Danny Rose
It's not just overweight women who find it harder to fall pregnant - Australian research shows for the first time how a man's weight can also lead to problems in the womb.
As a man's weight increased so his chances of fathering a child decreased, according to an Adelaide-based study which involved more than 300 couples who were enrolled at an IVF clinic.
"Clinical pregnancy rates were significantly reduced as paternal body mass index increased," said Dr Hassan Bakos, of the University of Adelaide.
"Clearly ... lifestyle choices should not be confined to the female partner when a couple is striving to achieve their dream of having a healthy baby."
Couples participating in the study were either undergoing IVF treatment or an alternative sperm injection procedure, and almost 80 per cent of the men involved were either overweight or obese.
The man's weight was found to have no bearing on the earliest phases of the fertilised embryos that were produced, Dr Bakos said.
"However, by day four or five of the embryo cell division - when paternal genetic influence comes into play - there was evidence of impaired development," he said.
"Current studies in our laboratory suggest that DNA damage and oxidative stress may be involved."
IVF processes involve the selection of the most viable fertilised embryos for implantation in the womb.
The research results are to be presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Fertility Society of Australia, which gets underway in Perth next week.
Dr Michelle Lane, from the Adelaide IVF clinic where the research was performed, said it provided clear evidence of the vital role a man's weight played for fertility.
"A healthy weight for women undergoing assisted conception improves clinical pregnancy rates," said Dr Lane, scientific director at Repromed.
"However, the effects of male obesity on pregnancy outcomes has until now not been so clear."
|
|
|