A reader asks: First of all, I congratulate the effort taken and the advice given on health-related issues. I am 38-years old and my wife is four years younger than me. We have been married for the last nine years, but we don't have children.
The IVF procedure we went for failed. According to the doctors, we don't seem to have any problems. We are desperate to have children. Could you advice us?
Dr Jomol Mariam Thomas (Dubai Health Authority licensed Ayurveda Practitioner, Senior Ayurveda Consultant, Dr Shyam’s Ayurveda Centre, Dubai) replies: People like you with fertility problems are not alone as it is the most prevalent problem for couples today. Going through an infertility treatment is an emotional fright as the chances of success are always doubted and the repeated failures can shatter hopes. The prognosis is favorable with the age of fertility and reproduction in your case.
The factors that influence the fertility in relation to the structural and functional aspect of human body include the quality of the sperm, quality of the ovum, favorable uterine condition and nutrition. In spite of all these factors favorable with no defect, if a couple fails to reproduce it is considered idiopathic or unexplained infertility.
Other influential factors for the increasing prevalence of infertility:
- Mind and body bond and emotional sync: The constant worry, an act in hurry, suppression of natural process of creation for a long period etc can leave your reproductive system out of sync with the rest of your body.
- The diet factor: The fast food culture has ruined the health concepts of today’s world. If you are fond of food that’s processed, micro waved ,added with artificial colors flavors and sweeteners , loaded with trans fats, saturated fats etc you are on a wrong path towards ill health, leaving you prone to many chronic diseases including infertility. A conservative treatment will rectify these nutritional imbalances and thereby create a congenial environment for a pregnancy.
- Daily exposure to chemicals : The potential reasons for unexplained infertility are the regular use of body lotions, face creams, body scrubs, perfumes or deodorants with chemical ingredients or inhalation of copious amounts of dangerous vapors emitted from the cleaning solutions .These have disruptive effect on your hormones damaging the fertility .
- Exposure to radiation :The constant use of Laptops, mobile phones, Television , microwaves, regular air travel, staying near power stations, mobile phone towers, power lines etc emit electromagnetic radiation and produce negative effects on the rapidly dividing egg and sperm cells and the embryo. Limiting your exposure to electromagnetic radiation is an integral part of a successful unexplained infertility treatment.
Ayurveda for you
According to Ayurveda, preparing for conception can be a similar process of farming. Just like the health of a crop depends on the quality of soil (uterine condition), quality of the seed (sperm and ovum), time of sowing( time of conception ), and amount of watering it gets( nutrition ) For a pregnancy to be healthy and successful, a couple needs to take care of all the above four vital factors and the wellbeing of a baby is directly related to it .
As per the Ayurveda principles, reproductive health depends on the health of the shukra dhatu, or reproductive tissues which is formed as a result of a long chain metabolic transformation which starts with the digestion and transformation of the food into the nutrient fluid ( Rasa ), blood (Raktha), muscle (mamsa) fat (medas) bone (asthi ) bone marrow (majja) and the end product shukra dhathu (ovum in women and semen in men). So it is very clear that you and your offspring are what you eat.
The main causes for infertility are:
- Eating spicy, salty and hot foods, which increase pitta and destroys reproductive tissues , consumption of incompatible foods and malnourishment are also considered as reasons
- Overindulgence in sexual activities
- Controlling sexual urges for long durations (practicing extended abstinence);
- Stress also causes disruption of natural biological rhythms.
- Being both overweight and underweight can impair a woman's odds of getting pregnant.
- Smoking and alcoholism etc.
Ayurvedic treatments for infertility are done only after a thorough evaluation of body constitution and are focused on understanding the cause and removing it, which is of great importance in a successful treatment for fertility. The aim of the treatment is to enhance the ovulation and fertilization, to improve the quality of sperm and egg, to strengthen the uterine structures to hold the fetus till full term, thereby preventing recurrent pregnancy loss and improvisation of overall wellbeing.
Ayurveda remedies include:
- Purification or detoxification therapy (Panchakarma therapies)
- Rejuvenation and aphrodisiac therapies ( Rasayana , vajeekarana)
- Stress management through Ayurveda oil therapies and Yoga
- One of the effective medicines generally prescribed for women is Phalaghritha. Others include shatavari ghritha , shilajith, bala(balamoola ksheera paka or bala thylam) etc. Among males Aswagandha , Kapikachu, mushali , shalmali, kokilaksha etc are highly recommended for improving the fertility.(to know more about for male fertility factors go through my previous blog )
- Before you start an internal medicine to prepare your body to conceive it is always advised to go for a cleansing therapy like Virechanam,Rajayapana vasthi, uthara vasthi etc to optimize the result . It is highly recommended to meet an ayurvedic expert to get an appropriate treatment suggestion.
Stay positive and keep the spirits up, it is often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock…God bless.
Disclaimer: This blog is a conversation and is not an alternative for treatment. The recommendations and suggestions offered by our panel of doctors are their own and Gulf News will not take any responsibility for the advice they provide.
