Welcome to Ask Doctor Zac, a weekly column from news.com.au. This week, Dr Zac Turner discusses the prospect of infertility.
QUESTION: Hi Dr Zac, My partner and I have decided to start a family. I’m a little nervous, however, as I have just seen my sister and her partner’s struggles with infertility issues. I’m anxious as my partner is always watching Netflix in bed or working with his laptop on his legs or abdomen and just the heat of it can’t be great, right? I’m almost to the point of telling my husband to not carry his phone in his pocket and ban any other ‘charged’ or electrical device from having body contact.
I’ve heard loads of stories about sperm count being reduced, the ‘little swimmers’ being uncoordinated and my GF was just telling me that her sister was told that her ‘eggs were practically scrambled’ from working in a lab with machines everywhere. I don’t know who to believe anymore and I’m scared to Google it as then it keeps sending me more articles that don’t seem positive at all. What is true? Am I being a hypochondriac or are these the key causes to my sister not falling pregnant? I don’t want that to happen to us so how can we both increase our fertility? – Jade, 31, Adelaide
ANSWER: Infertility is a sensitive topic for many people, and it can flare up issues in relationships between couples trying to start a family. If you are really anxious, I recommend you speak to your doctor about having fertility tests. They can help you make a plan, and can offer advice that is 100 per cent more credible than Google search results.
In fact, when I’m chatting to patients who are stressing about falling pregnant in the future, I often just say, well let’s do some research and maybe harvest some eggs or at least chat to an IVF specialist. Stressing about a problem is often far more debilitating than the actual problem, if there is a problem at all.
The statistics on fertility problems in Australia show this isn’t something random or rare. About one in six Australian couples of reproductive age experiences fertility problems. In 30 per cent of infertile couples, the man has fertility issues, in another 30 per cent it’s the woman, and in the remaining couples it can’t be identified (and 40 per cent can’t be the milk-delivery person, ha!). What this should tell you is that a variety of factors contribute to producing a baby and with so many variables across genders and roles it is a great topic to keep in discussion.
In couples younger than 30 who are generally healthy, 40 per cent to 60 per cent are able to conceive in the first three months of trying. That leaves a surprisingly big chunk of couples who cannot conceive while supposedly at the peak of their fertility; and while we forgive grandparents etc for asking about baby plans at the dinner table, it can be a disheartening topic for many people.
Generally speaking there are a number of factors involved in reproduction and I often chat to patients like I did when I was coaching and training in sport. What I mean by this is that some people are ‘natural athletes’ and have an advantage in speed, stamina, connection and more. Not being a naturally gifted athlete myself, I had to do lots of training in order to improve my performance on the basketball court.
When I chat to couples I ask them how much practice they are putting in individually first. While many sports require a team effort, it is often the preparation, stretching, gym, jump-shots, focus and meditation that makes the difference – and that is long before we even talk about supplements, communication, coaching and more.
When I break it down like that and we start to list out the things each person needs to do to improve their fertility, rarely do we find that people are practising too much. Sometimes it’s the time off the court that will help improve your health and the quality of your eggs and sperm. Just like in sport, your chances of conception will improve with consistency in sleep, diet, exercise, reducing stress, self encouragement and communication (yes, giving yourself a pep talk) just to name a few.
Phone radiation
Let’s unpack your cell phone theory a little bit more so you can understand that this alone is unlikely be the main reason a person has fertility issues.
Scientists have theorised the radiation from mobile phones, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to be ‘non-ionising’, which means it has low frequency and low energy, and have provided some evidence the electromagnetic radiation can impair fertility. I’d just like to say at this point, however, that we aren’t all walking around with nuclear reactors in our pockets. Even UV rays or X-rays have much higher frequencies, and can actually damage cells over time.
So perhaps if your husband worked in a cell phone factory for 40 years, or walked around with 20 phones in his pocket, he may see some problems with his fertility as a direct result of the ‘non-ionising’ electrical particles. I’ll make the safe assumption he doesn’t fall into those categories.
However, life is chaotic enough without the stress of worrying about fertility and also worrying about the computer’s heat frying his swimmers. Or as it was described by your friend in your question ‘damaging your eggs’. For goodness sakes, de-stress and put a pillow between the computer and yourself. At the very least, sperm do grow better at cooler temperatures, which is why testicles are able to lengthen and shorten.
Let’s unpack what you can actually do to increase fertility, and maybe leave Google for searching your celebrity crush’s height.
Both you and your husband should follow these tips …
• Be healthy – seems simple doesn’t it! Happy life, happy baby-making
• Lose excess weight
• Reduce alcohol consumption
• Get enough sleep
• Snack on antioxidant rich snacks such as walnuts
Your partner should do the following …
• Exercise regularly – this can boost testosterone and increase fertility
• Increase vitamin D and C levels as they improve semen quality
• Minimise stress – it’s no secret that stress can inhibit performance in the bedroom but it can also decrease your fertility. Prolonged levels of cortisol have a negative effect on testosterone.
• Maximise Zinc intake as it’s the cornerstone of male fertility. You can eat meat, fish or eggs. I recommend oysters as it’s also an aphrodisiac!
Thanks for your question Jade. I recommend you don’t overcomplicate things and stick to the basics of babymaking! And please remember, there is so much support and alternative options out there for you and your partner if you struggle to conceive.
Got a question: askdrzac@conciergedoctors.com.au
Dr Zac Turner has a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Sydney. He is both a medical practitioner and a co-owner of telehealth service, Concierge Doctors. He was also a registered nurse and is also a qualified and experienced biomedical scientist along with being a PhD Candidate in Biomedical Engineering.