Category: Environmental Health

IVF might not be enough

by Natalia Grob, MD, posted in Environmental Health, Environmental Toxins, fertility planning, Food and Diet, ICSI, IVF, Lifestyle, Uncategorized

I am incredibly proud to work at a REI clinic that has the highest live birth rate in the country. A recent study, however, suggests that IVF may not be enough. Lifestyle and the environment can impact your IVF success rates, even at a top notch REI clinic.

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In this study, levels of pesticides and common pollutants were measured in the fluid that was obtained from the ovary during an egg retrieval. They found that higher levels of Pretilachlor, β-cyfluthrin, PCB 28 and 180 was associated with fewer eggs at retrieval, lower fertilization rates, and impaired embryo development. They also found that high PCB and pesticide concentrations negatively affected embryological outcomes. This study provides evidence that these harmful chemicals are found in the fluid surrounding individual eggs and are associated with decreased success with IVF. This suggests that if you want the very best chances of success with IVF, you should consider optimizing your lifestyle to minimize exposure to these harmful chemicals.

 

What you can do:

  • Learn how to minimize your exposure to PCBs and pesticides
  • Make a plan to optimize your health before you invest in an IVF cycle
  • Talk to your doctor about a timeline for implementing these changes

Great resource

by Natalia Grob, MD, posted in Environmental Health, Fertility, Food and Diet, General Health, Uncategorized

I spend a considerable amount of time working with my patients to prepare them for a healthy pregnancy.  Lifestyle modifications like small changes to your diet and environment can absolutely optimize your chances of conceiving, regardless of what kind of treatment you are undergoing. This blog is dedicated to exploring the research behind our recommendations to couples.

I want to share an additional helpful resource to those of you who are trying to initiate these lifestyle changes. This group helps you tackle lifestyle changes, one room at a time in a user friendly and interactive manner. Check them out!

 

 

 

 

Air pollution stinks!

by Natalia Grob, MD, posted in Environmental Health, Environmental Toxins, General Health, Pregnancy Loss, Uncategorized

Common air pollutants include ozone and fine particles. Exposure to air pollution may increase the risk of problems with fertility and pregnancy complications like pregnancy loss.

 

A recent study conducted in Michigan and Texas found that ozone, commonly found in urban smog, was associated with early pregnancy loss. These researchers found that couples that had higher exposures to ozone were more likely to experience and early pregnancy loss than couples who had lower levels of exposure to air pollution. We do not know why exposure to air pollutants might cause pregnancy loss, but it could be related to inflammation and oxidative stress.

 

This is not the first time we have seen that air pollution can negatively impact fertility. Researchers in Salt Lake City found that sperm parameters like sperm motility were decreased for two to three months after exposure to higher air pollution. In a study done in Korea, researchers found that exposure to air pollution resulted in pregnancies rates through IVF.

 

These findings suggest that women who are trying to conceive and pregnant women may want to consider avoiding outdoor activity during air quality alerts, but more research is needed to confirm this association.

 

What you can do:

  • Click here to learn more about air pollution and how you can reduce your exposure

Keeping plastics out of your kitchen

by Natalia Grob, MD, posted in Environmental Health, Environmental Toxins, Fertility, Food and Diet, Lifestyle

plastics

We have previously reviewed the negative impact that chemicals in plastics may be having on our health and fertility. One of the best ways that we can reduce this exposure is in our kitchen. When food is stored or heated up in plastic, the dangerous chemicals can leach into the food that we ingest. These chemicals can then interact with our endocrine system and cause disease.

When I first started considering my exposure to plastics, it felt like an impossible uphill battle. By starting in my kitchen, the task of reducing plastic exposure felt more manageable. I started by removing all plastic storage containers and making sure that we do not heat up food in plastic.

Here is a quick article that I thought I would share to help reduce your plastic exposures at home in the kitchen. I hope this helps you find reasonable solutions for limiting your plastic exposure in your home.

Summer is here and mosquitos are back

by Natalia Grob, MD, posted in Environmental Health, Environmental Toxins, Herbs and Supplements, Lifestyle, Personal Care Products

My neighborhood pools opened this week for summer and my family couldn’t be more excited. Unfortunately, mosquitos are popping up again and reminding me of the importance of discussing insect repellants with my friends, families, and patients.

 

Many women who never wear insect repellants have recently become interested in these products because of the news coverage of the Zika virus. The Zika virus was introduced to the world during the most recent Olympic games in Brazil. Mosquito bites were linked to severe birth defects and the Zika virus was identified.

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The number of pregnant women with laboratory evidence of possible recent Zika virus infection and the number of fetuses/infants with Zika virus–associated birth defects continues to increase in the United States. About 1000 pregnant women in the US were diagnosed with Zika virus infection last year. Of these pregnancies, birth defects were reported in 15%. Congenital microcephaly, or severely small head in the affected child, has been a hallmark of intrauterine infection with Zika virus. However, the full clinical spectrum and severity of Zika remains unknown. Others have recently reported much lower rates of confirmed Zika virus in other parts of the US and no confirmed fetal or neonatal infections, which puts some doubt on the true prevalence of this widely publicized virus. The field of perinatal Zika virus infection is evolving and we continue to learn more about the virus as well as the risk of disease.
Insect repellants can be a good option for reducing your exposure to mosquitos and tics. The EWG has published excellent resources for consumers to learn about what is in their bug repellent.

 

My family uses DEET. It protects you against tics and mosquitos. DEET is the only insect repellant that has been tested on pregnancy women. The children of mothers who used DEET in their second and third trimesters showed no birth defects, changes in body size or developmental problems. No studies have examined the children of women who applied DEET during their first trimester. However, at toxic doses, DEET has been associated with seizures and neurological damage. Although this risk is scary, The EPA reports that this risk is very low- 1 per every 100 million persons. As with medications, I tend to recommend limiting the use of multiple products in order to limit exposure to multiple chemicals. Choose one insect repellant and stick with it.

 

A more natural alternative is also available as oil of lemon eucalyptus. The tree extract is refined to intensify the concentration of the naturally occurring substance para-menthane-3,8-diol (PMD) from 1 to 65 percent. The resulting oil is very different from unprocessed tree oil. Some testing shows that concentrations of 20 to 26 percent PMD may perform as well as 15 to 20 percent DEET against both mosquitoes and ticks (Barnard 2004, Consumer Reports 2010). I think it is important for us to recognize the limited safety data available on essential oils in pregnancy and in children. Refined oil of lemon is classified as a possible biochemical pesticide. Oil of lemon eucalyptus and essential oils have disadvantages but is a good choice for people who want a botanically based bug repellant. EWG recommends that consumers who are in high-risk areas for bug-borne disease or need long-lasting, effective bug protection avoid botanically-based bug repellents, aside from Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus. In other cases, you may find it worth your while to try botanical repellents to identify one that works well for you.

 

What you can do:

  • Avoid exposure to mosquitos: use insect repellants with <50% DEET when trying to conceive and during pregnancy. More is not better. My family uses 30%.
  • Wash your hands well after applying insect repellant. Wash repellant-coated skin at the end of each day.
  • You and your partner should avoid travel to areas with Zika virus when trying to conceive and during pregnancy. Discuss your travel plans with a physician if there is any question about the safety of travel. Talk to your physician if you or your partner are concerned that you have been exposed to the Zika virus.

 

For more information:

 

 

“Just the Tip of the Toxic Iceberg”

by Natalia Grob, MD, posted in Cancer, Environmental Health, Environmental Toxins, Fertility, General Health, Lifestyle, Personal Care Products

cosmetics

The terrifying association between consumer products and health problems is described in this recent article found in Time Magazine. Wow. What a headline. This article was written as a result of a large lawsuit for baby powder being associated with ovarian cancer. Yep, you read that right.

 

I’ll leave the rest of the reading up to you if you are interested but just had to share one more quote from the article:

 

“But it’s actually not surprising. The fact is, many personal care products on store shelves—products we lather in our hair, rub on our skin, and put in our babies’ bathtubs—contain chemicals with known links to health problems, with no warnings at all to consumers.

Many of us assume the companies are using the latest science as a guide to choose the safest ingredients, especially for products used on babies.

 

We should be able to expect that.

 

Unfortunately, nobody is watching the store. Companies in the U.S. are allowed to put ingredients into personal care products with no required safety testing, and without disclosing all the ingredients.”

 

What you can do:

  • Keep reading our blog to stay current .
  • Be an informed consumer
  • Check out the Environmental Working Group to check the safety of the products you already use.
    • I use this website every time I need to buy a new product so that eventually I will only have the safest products in my house and in my life. For example, I needed to re-stock on hand soap this week and used the EWG app to ensure I purchased the best rated kind.

Dads- pay attention too!

by Natalia Grob, MD, posted in Diet, Dietary, Environmental Health, Environmental Toxins, Fertility, Food and Diet, General Health, Lifestyle, Male Fertility, Obesity

In my fertility clinic, much of the discussion about pre-conception counseling, or what should be done to prepare for a healthy pregnancy, focuses on the female. We discuss a woman’s diet, vitamins, immunization status, supplements, exercise habits and more. New research is suggesting that dad needs to be involved in this health optimization before starting a family.

Epigenetics is a new hot term in science. We all have DNA, which is a roadmap of genes that encode the proteins that are expressed that make our bodies work. To describe it simply, epigenetics is the field that ensures that these genes are expressed at the right time, the right place, and the right amount. My research over the past three years has focused on epigenetics.

I am passionate about learning how our environment impacts our fertility. Epigenetics is an emerging link  to learning about your environment and how it may impact your genetic health: most toxins in our environment are not strong enough to cause DNA damage and mutations, but are able to impact gene expression, and ultimately the health of an individual, by altering epigenetic profiles. Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals in our environment, like those commonly found in plastics, induce epigenetic changes in sperm. Worse yet, these changes can be transmitted to future generations.

Recent studies suggest that epigenetic changes may be the key mechanism by which paternal factors such as age and weight contribute to health outcomes in their kids. For example, dads who smoke have children that are more likely to be overweight. Similarly, dads that are obese are more likely to have obese children as a result of epigenetic changes.

Dads- don’t lose hope. There are early indications that some paternal lifestyle-associated effects on sperm can be reverse through exercise, diet, and/or surgical weight loss. In my practice, I like to focus on the couple becoming the healthiest they can be before conceiving. Because ultimately, our goal is similar: we don’t just want to help you get pregnant, we want to help you be a healthy and happy family for generations to come.

If you’d like to take some steps to reduce the impact of your environment on your fertility, consider the following:

 

Is YOUR Makeup Speeding Our Journey Toward Menopause? The Scary Association That You Need to Know About

by Natalia Grob, MD, posted in Environmental Health, Environmental Toxins, Fertility, General Health, Lifestyle, Personal Care Products

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One of the first research projects I did on the impact that lifestyle can have on fertility showed that women exposed to a handful of common chemicals classified as EDCs (endocrine disrupting chemicals) go through menopause earlier than women who have less exposure. It gained a lot of media attention because several of the toxic chemicals I found in my study are common in makeup products. A more recent study highlighted the continued importance of addressing this issue in women’s health and prompted this post.

This group evaluated the top beauty brands for each type of makeup and found 1322 ingredients. They then went on to summarize the evidence suggesting the association between each of these chemicals and menopause. Most of the chemicals they found are absorbed through the skin, meaning that all these chemicals are entering our bodies each day. Although the group admits there aren’t enough studies to show a direct link between cosmetics use and menopause, I think it’s enough to have me question what I’m being exposed to on a daily basis and how it’s going to impact my health.

Even though you may be far from menopause, I think it is still important for you to consider how chemicals that you’re exposed to can be impacting your ovaries. Women who go through menopause early are likely to have a shorter fertility window, meaning that they may use up their eggs at a faster rate than someone else their age. In the fertility world, this can translate to women who respond less to medications or are less successful with their use of assisted reproductive technology compared to others their age.

As a woman, as a mother, and as a fertility specialist, my first response to learning how many chemicals we are exposed to daily was disbelief: Why aren’t we protected as consumers from these potentially toxic chemicals? Why are they still exposing people to these toxic chemicals? Although the Food and Drug Administration monitors the chemicals that go into food and drugs, cosmetics are not subjected to the same regulation. Here are a few things that we can do to protect ourselves by limiting the numbers of chemicals we are exposed to daily.

 

Take home points:

  • Women are exposed to 1000s of toxic environmental chemicals each day.
  • Some of the chemicals found in makeup have been linked to health problems, including earlier menopause
  • Physicians and patients need to do a better job learning about the risks to their health so that they can make more informed choices in selecting their personal care products
  • What you can do:
    • Limit the number of personal care products you use. For example, try to limit to one type of shampoo to minimize the exposure to multiple chemicals.
    • Avoid any personal care items that have fragrances or scents.
    • Read labels and support companies that disclose what their ingredients are and support their efforts to remove those that are not necessary or are suspected to be unsafe.
    • Be an informed consumer: know what you are being exposed to. Here is a list of great resources.

Successful Fertility Treatment; it’s about much more than what happens in the office

by Robert Greene, M.D., posted in Diet, Environmental Health, Environmental Toxins, Fertility, General Health, Hormone Balance

Whenever someone asks me “what else can we do to boost our chances?” it represents one of the most exciting and challenging moments of our interaction. It’s exciting because it shows a willingness to make changes in their current diet and/or lifestyle. It’s challenging because there are no simple answers and most of the data is rather loosely supportive of the recommendations. Fortunately better studies are coming out all the time.

The January 2015 Issue of the journal Fertility & Sterility put this topic front and center. The journal opened with a commentary  that pointed out the fact that each egg–even those from fertile egg donors–has no more than a 40% chance of becoming a successful pregnancy. Therefore, we need to look beyond what we do with the sperm and eggs and also direct our attention toward what else can impact their quality. A “global medicine approach” proposes  that we look at the nutritional status, environment and lifestyle for additional answers and better outcomes. The journal went on to present three papers to bring us closer to that goal.

The first study  looked at infant birthweight and the risk–several decades later–of male factor infertility. Specifically, they were looking at the theory that some male infertility begins in the womb prior to birth. Other studies have found results suggesting this happens for women; that low birthweight may increase the risk of longer time to conception and a higher risk of diminished ovarian reserve. That prompted this research to determine if the same might be true in men. It was. They found that men that were born with a birthweight less than 2,500 gm (normal is 2,500 to 3,500 gm at term) were at a higher risk of having a low sperm count and their sperm was more likely to have damaged DNA. They also tended to be overweight or obese which is also associated with male factor infertility. So nutrition during pregnancy can have lasting implications for the children that are born.

A second article  summarized the concept of “ecofertlility;” environmental toxins that may alter fertility. The examples that they focused on were those that were most common and most easily controlled, tobacco and marijuana since there is typically a choice to use or not use these substances. The authors reviewed a variety of studies that consistently demonstrate that women that are cigarette smokers tend to take about a year longer to conceive, have a higher rate of infertility and are more likely to have a diminished ovarian reserve than nonsmokers. Men were impacted similarly. Male smokers had a higher risk of abnormal semen analysis as well as a higher rate of erectile dysfunction. The authors also presented evidence that various substances produced by tobacco smoke appear in the fluid that surrounds the eggs and then have a very toxic impact. These substances may actually result in a higher rate of failed fertilization. This may explain why smokers have about a 40% lower pregnancy rate when undergoing IVF than nonsmokers. Even with sperm injection (ICSI) directly into the egg; the rate of “fertilization failure” is about three times higher in smokers. The impact of marijuana was more difficult to quantify. In men it has been linked to a higher risk of sperm abnormalities, as well as various hormonal dysfunctions including gynecomastia (increase in breast size), low libido and problems with erectile dysfunction. There is less data on women as exposure is difficult to accurately assess and monitor and correlate with egg function since exposure now may impact an egg many months (or even years) later.

Finally, in a third paper  they reviewed the potential impact of one of the most widely studied chemicals that we’re all exposed to called bisphenol-A (BPA). This chemical was first produced in 1891. It was identified to have estrogen-like activity as far back as 1936. Unfortunately, that did not stop its production and distribution. Today it is recognized as one of the most ubiquitous hormone disrupting chemicals. About 20% of the BPA produced—nearly 3.4 million tons per year—is used to line various food containers. From there, it has clearly been shown to leech into the food that we eat and then contribute to various health problems like diabetes, obesity, heart disease, lung problems, kidney disorders as well as various reproductive problems. The data on its toxicity has been alarming enough to prompt Canada from banning its use in baby bottles (2008). More recently the European Union went a step further and banned its use entirely in 2011. Here in the US, there is just now legislation  proposed to require clear labeling on food containers that contain BPA.  The study authors went on to provide a further note of caution by providing evidence that two chemicals that have been proposed to replace it—BPS and BPF—may have similar negative effects based upon animal data. Human studies are pending. The bottom line is that we need to pay more attention to the chemicals that we use to package our food in as they may actually taint our food supply as well as reduce our health and fertility.

As a reproductive health specialist, I don’t want to alarm my patients but I also don’t want to marginalize the potential impact of our choices upon our ability to initiate a healthy pregnancy. Although walking the line between concern and unnecessarily upsetting people may be a delicate one; I do feel compelled to empower those that are willing to listen. Success is not just about what happens in the clinic—it begins at home.

[r1]Link to http://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(14)02274-2/abstract

[r2]Link to http://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(14)02383-8/abstract

[r3]Link to http://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(14)02354-1/abstract

[r4]http://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(14)02351-6/abstract

[r5]Link to http://www.endocrine.org/membership/email-newsletters/endocrine-insider/2015/march-19-2015/endocrine-society-endorses-bpa-in-food-packaging-right-to-know-act

Lead in Lipstick!?! Whose idea was that?

by Robert Greene, M.D., posted in Environmental Health, Fertility, General Health, Lifestyle, Personal Care Products

There have long been rumors that lipstick contains lead and but since cosmetic producers are not mandated to release the ingredients of their products, this fact remained hidden for many years. Back in 2007 the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics [r1] sent 33 brands of lipstick to an independent lab for testing and found that 61% tested positive for up to 0.65 parts per million of lead. What’s more they found top selling brands—including one that sold for $24 each—had the highest lead content! They reported their results to FDA and were promised an investigation.

It took the FDA two years and a letter from 3 US Senators to perform a follow up study. They found lead in every brand that they tested[r2] . Some of the brands had four times more lead in them then the Campaign study results. Despite these findings, the FDA did not take any action to protect consumers. More recently, an expanded analysis found lead levels as high as 7.19ppm. Even more surprising 5 of the top 10 most heavily contaminated brands were made by a one manufacturer[r3] , Loreal USA. Why aren’t consumers being made aware that something as toxic as lead is being sold to apply to their lips? That’s a hard question to answer.

The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that there is “No safe blood level for lead.” Lead is a neurotoxin. It accumulates in the body and it can even cross the placenta to harm a developing fetus. That’s why the only effective strategy against heavy metal poisoning is to minimize your risk of lead exposure. The effects of lead are well known and include lower IQ scores, behavioral problems, aggression and learning (especially language) disabilities.

More recently, a study demonstrated that high levels of lead can also contribute to infertility. In this study[r4] —conducted by the National Institute of Health—they found that women and men with higher levels of the heavy metals lead and cadmium experienced a nearly 30% reduction in their chance of conceiving. Although their study considered cigarettes to be the primary source of exposure to these toxic metals; their study was completed before the high lead levels in lipstick were revealed. Be a smart consumer and check out your personal care products and cosmetics before you apply: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/browse/lipstick .