Vitamin D Deficency And Infertility
Low Vitamin and Folate Levels Have Been Observed In Infertile Men.
Nov 5, 2008
Researchers at Fertility First, in Sydney, Australia, were studying sperm to see which ones and how many had damaged DNA, in the hope that it may shed light on why the 800 men enrolled, could not impregnate their partners.
All the men had undergone blood testing, and it was noticed purely by chance that a third of the men had vitamin D and folate deficiencies. A substance known as homocysteine, an amino acid which occurs when the body is toxic through lack of folate and vitamins, was present in the blood.
The medical profession already know how important vitamin D and folic acid is to women, and that a lack of these can cause infertility, which is one of the reasons why women are encouraged to take folic acid supplements for three months prior to trying for a baby, but until now they didn't know that the same was true for men.
A Third Of Men Had Low Vitamin Levels
58% of the men had fragmented sperm (with damaged DNA) but despite overwhelming evidence for nutritional problems, only 100 men out of 800 agreed to make any lifestyle changes, stop smoking, eat more healthily, cut out tea and coffee, lose weight and take supplements.
Of those that did make the necessary changes, 40% were then able to successfully impregnate their partners, with a little help from the assisted conception clinic, and 11 of the pregnancies occurred totally naturally with no medical help. This is much higher than the average success rate for IVF alone.
The Trouble With Sun Screen
Dr. Anne Clark, lead researcher, said 'The results clearly show that lifestyle changes and dietary supplements can be beneficial for the conception of a healthy on-going pregnancy.'
She theorized that concerns about skin cancer, wide use of sun screen ointments and general avoidance of sun exposure may be a cause of vitamin D deficiency, and if so, maybe the rest of the general public were also at risk?
Vitamin D is from sunlight. If we don't get enough UV exposure, we don't get enough vitamin D, and the problem is deeper than concerns about skin cancer. Our modern lifestyles mean that more and more of us work indoors in offices. Men in previous generations had jobs in farming or construction - now the majority don't. Lazing around in the sun is often an activity limited to a fortnight's holiday abroad, once a year, and even then, we are encouraged to plaster ourselves in sun cream. No one disputes the fact that skin cancer is tragic and can be deadly, but a lack of sunlight, in addition to causing fertility problems, can cause a host of other cancers with death rates higher than that of skin cancer.
In this case, it may be that an ounce of prevention is actually a pound of death.
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