Obesity reduces female fertility & bull; hello healthy

Obesity can cause various chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Not only that, obese women are at risk for impaired reproductive function and cause infertility or infertility. Infertility or infertility is defined as a condition in which women do not also experience pregnancy despite having sexual intercourse regularly. Then, why obesity can cause infertility for women?

How can obesity affect fertility?

Several studies have shown that pregnancy is difficult in women who are obese when compared to women with normal weight or overweight. Even when experiencing pregnancy, obese women are at risk of miscarriage. A study conducted on 3029 couples, showed that women who have a BMI of more than 30 have difficulty getting pregnant for at least one year. In addition, it is also known that women with a BMI of more than 30 are unable to have normal births. Meanwhile, women with a BMI of 40 or more decreased their chances of getting pregnant by 43%.

The survey shows that women with a BMI of 24 to 31 experience anovulation (ovaries do not produce eggs) 30% higher each month than women who have a normal BMI. Even women whose BMI were more than 31, had a 170% higher chance of experiencing anovulation.

Leptin hormone imbalance

People who are obese, usually tend to eat foods with high calories, sugar and fat. When the body consumes too much fat, the hormone leptin appears, which functions to regulate appetite and signal to the brain that the body is "full". However, the continuous intake of fat will make the hormone leptin continue to be produced by the body. The more the amount of fat consumed, the higher the leptin level. However, leptin becomes resistant and does not function properly because too much fat enters so that there are too high levels of leptin in the body.

Leptin dysfunction can affect the imbalance of sexual hormone levels, such as luteinizing hormone and estradiol, which are fertility hormones in women. These hormones help prepare an ovum or egg in a woman. In addition, women have levels of the hormone leptin three times higher than men. So, when women eat too much fatty food, then the leptin produced will also increase. This is what makes it difficult for obese women to get pregnant.

Insulin hormone resistance

Not only resistance to the hormone leptin, the body is also resistant to the hormone insulin. When people who are obese consume too much carbohydrates or sugar, hyperglycemia will occur in the body. Hyperglycemia that continues will result in the body no longer sensitive to the hormone insulin. Research states that the pituitary cells are responsible for the production luteinizing homorne , which plays a very important role in the fertilization process and determines female fertility.

The research was conducted on female mice that lost insulin receptors, so that the body could not receive signals from the insulin hormone. The female rats were given a high-fat diet for three months. At the end of the study, it was discovered that these female rats experienced polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which is a condition that is usually the reason for infertility in women. In addition, several other female mice also exhibited irregular menstruation and other reproductive disorders.

Another study states that polycystic ovary syndrome results in an increase in androgen hormones (male hormones) in women, and interferes with the ovaries to produce eggs. Many things cause PCOS, but researchers state that having an obese nutritional status can increase a high risk for women to experience PCOS.

Cause miscarriage

Even though obese women have successfully become pregnant, the pregnancy is very risky for the health of the fetus. Obese women tend to have poor egg quality, experience problems when the ovum implantation (which has been fertilized) occurs, and hormonal dysfunction due to obesity will make pregnancy difficult.

However, along with a decrease in body weight and fat levels in the body, women can normalize their reproductive functions again. The British Fertility Society states that women who are obese must lose their weight to normal in order to be fertile again.