Cholesterol and fertility

Sometimes the reason why a couple can't conceive are obvious - she may not be ovulating or he may not be making enough sperm.

But oftentimes the cause is not so apparent - and because of that many couples can go for years not getting pregnant - and not understanding why. In fact, sometimes even a fertility specialist can overlook problems that you might otherwise believe they would catch!

If at least one group of researches are right, one of those overlooked problems can be high cholestserol - a condition that not only commonly impacts older women , but increasingly younger women are affected as well.

In one interesting aninmal study conducted by Helena E. Miettinen, of the Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, doctors found that when cholesterol levels were high, the mice most often ovulated dysfunctional eggs - eggs that either could not be fertilized, or were incapable of leading to a successful pregnancy.

But what was even more intriguing was the researchers also found that when physiology of the mice were manipulated with cholesterol lowering medication, fertility was restore.

According to Miettinen, " Thus, it seems likely that abnormal lipoprotein metabolism is responsible for the reversible infertility of [ the test subjects]. "

In short, not only does this open the door to the possiblity that simply lowering your cholesterol might help you get pregnant, but it also opens the gate to the idea that in some women, cholesterol lowering medication could act like a fertlity drug.

As important an observation as this might turn out to be, there is a caution that goes with it. Indeed, a very recent study has found that women whose cholesterol is too low may be at increased risk fo premature labor or may delivery full term babies at exceptionally low birht weight.

Indeed, according to the study "Adverse Birth Outcomes Among Mothers With Low Serum Cholesterol, " published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, women whose cholesterol was deemed "low" had a 21% chance of having a premature birth, compared to just 5% of the mother's whose cholesterol was considered to be "moderate".

Moreover, the researchers found that women with low serum cholesterol level were also more likely to give birth to infants weighing 150 grams or less , with smaller heads

Doctors say that low serum cholesterol levels is often a reflection of a poor diet - which may in fact, be the real reason behind the findings.

Still, until we know for certain, if you are trying to get pregnant it's a good idea to try and maintain a balanced cholesterol reading - not to high and not too low. But if your cholesterol is too high, talk to your doctor about whether or not cholesterol lowering medication might help you get pregnant.