GUWAHATI, June 10 - Lifestyle factors are having a substantial impact on fertility of men and women. With growing incidence of infertility and reproductive health-related complications, experts feel that proper counselling and lifestyle modification can make a huge difference.
�Unless physically fit and mentally relaxed, even best of the medicines cannot work effectively on people facing infertility issues, as overall health is the key to reproductive health,� feels internationally acclaimed obstetrician, gynaecologist and infertility specialist Dr Geeta Baruah Nath.
Backed by more than 25 years in her field, the Delhi-based infertility expert said that psychological stress is now a major factor behind growing infertility among couples, clubbed with other aspects like delaying the decision to start a family.
�With the changing environment, people are leading a very stressful life. Both men and women become more career-oriented in this highly competitive world, high ambition becomes the driving force, for which the decision of marriage and planning a family is generally delayed,� she said.
Dealing with reproductive health-related issues from every corner of the country, Dr Nath also offers help and advice to patients over e-mail. Many from Assam who have approached her through e-mail have also benefited from her expertise.
A trusted name for handling the cases of high-risk pregnancies and infertility, Dr Nath has been getting a number of cases from Assam and is active on several websites on parenting and maternal health.
While talking to The Assam Tribune on some specific issues related to infertility, she observed that she had faced many cases of habitual abortion from Assam. �Habitual abortion is not a proper way to delay the decision of starting a family and it can have a severe impact on the reproductive health as well as the overall health of women. The use of �over the counter� abortion pill without proper medical supervision is another very dangerous practice, that can be life threatening,� she added.
Other factors like lack of exercise, use of alcohol, cigarette, drugs are some of the common factors, which affect reproductive health.
Stressing the need for taking good counselling along with infertility treatment, she said that in many cases, 50 per cent problems could be solved through effective counselling.
�Reproduction is a natural process and being desperate to have a baby within a set timeline does not help. We advise couples to make the modifiable changes in the lifestyle. There are several lines of treatment for infertility in medical science that could be followed as best suited to individual cases. Lifestyle changes however, are required in any line of treatment,� she added.
