Obesity makes it difficult for women to conceive

Obesity decreases the chances that a woman is pregnant, and the more overweight, have more difficulty conceiving. Apparently this is due to fatty tissues secrete a hormone called leptin, which decreases the chance of fertilization.Specialists of, Academic Medical Center Amsterdam, came to this conclusion based on the cases of more than 3,000 couples treated for infertility at 24 hospitals between 2002 and 2004, and the result of research published in the journal Human Reproduction.

The researchers looked at the relationship between fertility and body mass index (BMI), a proportional amount of weight and height. Is considered obese a person whose BMI is over 30, and among women selected for the study was that the obese were significantly less likely to become pregnant naturally than those whose weight was normal and had a BMI between 21 and 29.

"In the case of a woman with a BMI of 35, the chances of spontaneous pregnancy was 26% lower while in the case of a patient with a BMI of 40 the chances were 43% lower," said Dr. Jan Willem van der Steeg, director of the research team.

One of the factors that hamper the design in obese women would be the hormone leptin that regulates appetite and energy expenditure and is secreted by fat tissue. Formerly a Danish study had been reported that obesity hinders ovulation.

Posted in: Pregnancy