Thursday, January 8, 2009

Infertility and Alcoholism

By Ed Philips

Studies have shown that women who consume alcohol at any rate can struggle with infertility during their lives. Sometimes it could cause a woman who is trying to get pregnant to suffer from miscarriages, never having a successful pregnancy. Often times if the woman does carry on throughout the pregnancy, many complications can occur during childbirth and after, affecting the baby and the mother.

The risks of infertility from alcoholism or even moderate drinking are a reality that women need to face. Consuming too much alcohol can disrupt the ovulation cycle in women leading to difficulty getting pregnant or the inability to conceive at all. Increased levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone are yet another result of women drinking too much alcohol.

Alcoholism affects fertility in not just women but men also. Men who would one day like to have children face their own set of risks from their addiction. Alcohol can lead men to having sperm that is abnormally shaped and cannot fertilize a woman's egg and can even lead to impotency. This can have profound effects on a man's mental health in addition to his physical health. A man can feel inadequate, unworthy and even less of a man as a result of infertility.

Men need to be aware that alcohol can not only destroy sperm but the cells that produce the sperm drastically effecting hormone levels. Men wanting to start a family at some point need to slow down their drinking if not stop drinking altogether. By overcoming alcohol now, you will greatly increase your chance of being able to procreate later.

If you or a loved one are battling alcohol, realizing all of the health risks and damage that drinking can bring about might help lead you to stop. From liver problems to infertility, the consequences to your health can be devastating. Research alcoholism on the internet or talk to those who have been in the same situation themselves for support and comfort.

The most important step is to start today. There are numerous treatment options, support groups and even medications available to help you on the road to an alcohol free future, but you first have to admit there is a problem. Once you are past this difficult step, with one foot in front of the other you can keep moving forward to your goal of sobriety and good health.

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