Fertility Problems in Women Linked to High Blood Fat Profile

Unhealthy blood fat profile in young women before pregnancy is associated with fertility problems where the women are more likely to have one child or remain childless, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal BMJ Open.// Women with an "unhealthy" blood fat profile of high LDL ('bad') cholesterol, triglycerides, and a high triglyceride to HDL ('good') ratio, as well as low levels of HDL cholesterol, measured years before they conceived, were 20 to 100 percent more likely to be pregnant only once.

"Pre-existing poor lipid and metabolic profiles could represent one of the possible linkages between previously observed fertility and later (cardiovascular disease)," said the researchers.

For the study, the team analyzed blood samples from 4,322 women, aged 20 and above, which included 1677 childless women, 488 one-time mothers, and 2,157 women with two or more children.

The analysis showed that childless women and one-time mothers tended to be overweight and older. They were also found to smoke more than women who had had two or more kids.

Further, one-time mothers also had a higher prevalence of diabetes and were more than twice as likely to have had fertility treatment.

When compared with women who had two or more pregnancies, total cholesterol above the clinically recommended level was associated with greater odds of having no children, irrespective of BMI.

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However, since this is an observational study, the cause cannot be established. Nevertheless, the findings back previous studies, which found that metabolic irregularities among women of normal weight were an independent risk factor for impaired fertility, the researchers noted.

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Source-IANS