Editors note: The author of this article, Dr. Soram Singh Khalsa, will be having a regular health column on SikhNet, this is the first of which. Dr. Khalsa has recently gained more mainstream attention due to his appearance on the Dr. Oz show. Click here to see.
Air Pollution and Fertility
In last week’s newsletter I talked about the relationship Between Particulate Air Pollution (smog) and Alzheimer’s disease.
I discussed the importance for city dwellers, which is most of my patients and readers, to get and use an air filter in their house and certainly at least in their bedroom when they are sleeping.
Now new information is coming out increasingly, to show the relationship between air pollution and infertility. It is currently estimated by the CDC that 6.7 million women have impaired ability to get pregnant or to carry a baby to term. This represents 10.9% of women between the ages of 15 and 44.
Now air pollution is getting linked to infertility.
In men, air pollution has been linked to DNA damage, abnormal sperm morphology, and reduce sperm performance.
More and more studies are showing that exposure to environmental air pollutants affect reproductive functions and, in particular, produce adverse effects on pregnancy outcomes, fertility and fetal health.
“Epidemiological studies demonstrate that exposure to ambient levels of air pollutants are associated with low birth weight, intrauterine growth retardation, prematurity, neonatal death, and decreased fertility in males.”
In a very recent study it was shown that short-term decreases in a couple’s ability to conceive was associated with airborne particles of the size PM2.5 as well as nitrous oxide which is part of ordinary smog.
Another recent article from last month is showing that living in a city with air pollution lowers sperm quality and can affect fertility. The author of the article said that it “can take up to three months from being exposed to pollution until effects on the sperm are seen.”
Another recent article has shown a 2.6 fold increase in the risk of miscarriage from a brief exposure to high levels of ambient particulate matter, as in smog of a size smaller then PM10.
Putting all this information together has certainly helped me to understand why young couples are having so much trouble conceiving and carrying a baby to term. Increasingly we see miscarriages and and many other fertility problems in the young women of today.
All this information led a colleague of mine Walter Crinnion, ND, to say semi-jokingly to me “We can now recommend air filters in our patients’ houses as fertility aids!”
For this reason, I encourage all my patients and readers who are trying to conceive to purchase a high quality air filter, which will be under $1000, and use it nightly in your bedroom with the windows and doors closed while you sleep.
It just might help you have a baby!
See the next article on my Recommended Air Filters for your house.
References:
Ambient air pollution exposure and damage to male gametes
Air pollution and effects on reproductive-system functions
Environmental factors and semen quality.
Short-term impact of atmospheric pollution on fecundability
Air pollution lowers sperm quality
Effects of exposure to high levels of particulate air
pollution during the follicular phase of the conception
cycle on pregnancy outcome in couples undergoing in
vitro fertilization and embryo transfer
Effects of exposure to high levels of particulate air pollution during the follicular phase of the conception cycle
What does PM2.5 and PM10 Mean?
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Dr. Soram
Board certified in Internal Medicine, Dr. Soram Khalsa is a clinical instructor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and an associate physician in the Division of Internal Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He is a clinical professor of medicine and past Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Environmental Medicine Center of Excellence at Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Phoenix, Arizona. He also served as a member of the Bureau of Naturopathic Medicine Advisory Council for the State of California and serves as Medical Director for the East-West Medical Research Institute. In 2007, Dr. Khalsa was chosen by his peers as one of the “Best Doctors” in America and serves in this capacity as a consultant for integrative medicine. Dr. Khalsa is a founding member of the American Holistic Medical Association and a founding member of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture. He is the author of “The Vitamin D Revolution: How the Power of this Amazing Vitamin Can Change Your Life.” In his private medical practice, he integrates phytotherapeutics, environmental medicine, acupuncture and homeopathy with traditional Internal Medicine. The purpose of this blog is to share with the world more information on Integrative Medicine (IM). I have been practicing Integrative Medicine for over 28 years. I am a board certified internist and integrate Diet, Nutrition, Acupuncture, Herbal medicine, and homeopathy into my traditional Internal Medicine practice in Beverly Hills. Because my patients over and over have told me how much they have benefited from this approach, and because I realize not everyone wants or can have an IM physician, I have created this blog to share some of the information that I give to my patients on a regular basis. The special areas that I will be discussing will include:
I hope you will stay posted and learn things from my site that can have positive impact on your health and the health of your family. |
About Soram Singh Khalsa, M.D.
