What are the Causes & Symptoms of Female Infertility?
Infertility is diagnosed when a couple fails to conceive after 12 months of unprotected sex with frequent sexual activity. Infertility issues are rising day by day, and approximately half of them are due to male factors and others due to female infertility factors. Sometimes infertility cases could be due to both male and female problems.
In this blog, we will enlist the aspects related to female infertility, including causes and symptoms.
Female Infertility Causes
The following are some of the female infertility causes:
- Ovarian disorder
An ovary that does not produce sufficient reproductive hormones or suffers from infrequent ovulation is a common cause of infertility. This can also be caused by an obstruction in reproductive hormone production by either the hypothalamus or pituitary gland.
- Age
During puberty, one matures in a female’s ovaries and is released at ovulation. Because of ovulation and damage or degeneration of some eggs, the number gets depleted every month. As a woman gets older, her chances of getting a pregnancy drop, and she’s more likely to miscarry.
- Obesity
An increase in obesity is associated with an increase in anovulation (the failure to ovulate) as well as menstrual dysfunction, which has a negative impact on conception as well as pregnancy complications.
- Drinking and Smoking habits
In minimal amounts of alcohol, female fertility is not adversely affected, but heavy consumption can be problematic. Passive smoking and doing illicit drugs are also known to affect fertility adversely.
- Premature Menopause
It causes females to stop ovulating well before their natural time. A woman may experience menopause or perimenopause, or both at any age. An irregular menstrual cycle characterizes a transitional phase prior to menopause. The latter can occur between the ages of 40 and 50. A low level of oestrogen during early menopause may lead to menopause because of an insufficient number of eggs or an insufficient amount of oestrogen.
- Cancer treatment
When cancers of the pelvis are treated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, reproductive cells are destroyed, reducing the chance of conception. The compromised reproductive organ(s) can also be surgically removed following a cancer diagnosis so that the organ(s) will not be capable of functioning normally as reproductive organs anymore.
Symptoms of Female Infertility
The menstrual cycle may play an influential role in female infertility. The symptoms include:
- The presence of abnormal menses or bleeding for a shorter or longer period of time than usual.
- Irregular menstrual cycles.
- Menstrual Absence: Insufficient menarche or premature menopause.
- A painful period characterized by backache, cramps, and pelvic pain
There are a number of other symptoms that can result from hormonal imbalances in the female body, causing infertility, such as-
- A heightened number of acne breakouts.
- Dark/coarse hair covers the face, chest, and back.
- Unexpected weight gain.
- A decrease in libido.
- Sometimes pain during sexual intercourse.
Many factors contribute to the cause and symptoms of female infertility, including hormonal changes, genetics, and lifestyle choices.
Consult your doctor if you experience difficulty ovulating, and your doctor may recommend an ultrasound scan to determine whether your fallopian tubes are blocked or if there is another problem with the lining in your body.