by Whitney Rhodes on March 18, 2010
Are you familiar with the condition known as congenital adrenal hyperplasia as it relates to infertility?
If the answer is no—you aren’t alone.
This is a relatively rare condition that many or even most people have never heard of.
What is Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia?
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is an inability of the adrenal glands to produce cortisol. The adrenal glands, which are two walnut sized organs on top of the kidneys, produce hormones.
The inner portion of the adrenal gland is called the medulla. It produces adrenaline. The outer part of the adrenal gland is called the cortex.
Normally, it is the cortex that produces cortisol, male type hormones called androgens that are produced by both genders, and aldosterone, which is a salt retaining hormone.
Severe Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia
This is the form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia that occurs at birth or during early infancy.
Newborns with this condition are born with enlarged adrenal glands. They are unable to produce enough cortical, so their bodies try to compensate by growing larger adrenal glands, in an effort to produce more cortisol.
Children suffering from severe Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia often have facial hair and masculine features. Baby girls born with this condition sometimes have genitals which look more like male genitalia than female.
These children have poorly functioning immune systems. They are susceptible to colds and other viruses.
As they get older, they do grow, but growth usually stops before puberty. So, most people with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia are of short stature. The lack of development of the reproductive system also means they will suffer from infertility.
Mild Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia
People with the mild type of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia are often not diagnosed until they decide to have children and discover they are infertile.
These people are usually of normal height and appear physically normal. They often have poor immune systems and suffer more illnesses or longer lasting colds than other people.
Some women with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia may have slightly abnormal looking genitals, but this is not always the case. These women may have irregular periods and difficulty in getting pregnant, but it is often the last thing a fertility specialist screens for when she seeks help.
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia can be diagnosed by blood testing.
Tagged as:
Fertility,
infertility,
Trying To Conceive
by Whitney Rhodes on March 16, 2010
If you have been trying to conceive for a year or longer, or six months if you are 35 years old or older, you are probably about to embark on a round of fertility testing.
Both you and your partner will almost certainly have fertility tests done, and this article will provide you with some pertinent information about female fertility testing.
First of all, let’s take a look at what type of tests will probably be done:
The first test that will be performed by your doctor or fertility specialist involves measuring your FSH, or Follicle Stimulating Hormone, as well as your LH, or Luteinizing Hormone in order to establish a baseline.
This is performed on your initial visit, on the 3rd day of your cycle.
Next, you will have your second visit on the day when your LH surges, normally before ovulation for most women. During this first cycle, your doctor or fertility specialist usually performs these tests:
Cervical mucus tests: This test involves a postcoital test (PCT) that will determine if your partner’s sperm is able to penetrate and survive in your cervical mucus, plus a bacterial screening.
Ultrasound tests: These are done to assess the thickness of the lining of your uterus, known as the endometrial; and to monitor follicle development, as well as check the condition of your uterus and ovaries. You may then have another ultrasound two to three days later to confirm that you have released an egg as you should have.
Hormone tests: These tests are performed to determine how your hormone levels that contribute to the reproductive process are measuring and if they are normal, or not. These tests include:
Luteinizing Hormone
Follicle Stimulating Hormone
Estradiol
Progesterone
Prolactin
Free T3
Total Testosterone
Free Testosterone
DHEAS
Androstenedione
When all of these tests have been done and the results garnered and looked over by the doctor, and your partner has had the appropriate testing done, then you may or may not have to undergo further, more extensive testing to try and determine the cause of infertility.
It is important to know that in some cases, there is never a conclusive cause or definitive reason for infertility.
Tagged as:
Fertility,
get pregnant,
infertility,
Trying To Conceive
by Laura Mercer on March 14, 2010
If you are trying to conceive and struggling with infertility, the whole process might not be quite as stressful if you were able to understand the most frequently used medical terms relating to infertility and fertility treatments.
Here are more medical terms associated with infertility that it might be helpful for you to know:
Ovarian Stimulation: This term refers to the use of medications to stimulate the ovaries to develop both follicles and mature eggs.
Ovulatory Dysfunction: This is a diagnostic category that is used when a woman’s ovaries are not producing eggs as they should be. It includes polycystic ovary syndrome as well as multiple ovarian cysts.
Pregnancy, Clinical: A clinical pregnancy that has been documented by ultrasound and shows a gestational sac in the uterus. For Assisted Reproductive Technology data collection purposes, pregnancy is defined as a clinical pregnancy rather than a chemical pregnancy, which simply means a positive pregnancy test.
Pregnancy Symptoms: This is a group of physical changes that normally occur in a woman’s body, that are related to pregnancy and increased levels of the hCG hormone. hCG stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin.
Sperm: This is the male reproductive cell.
Sperm motility: This refers to the sperm’s ability to quickly swim forward to the egg so that fertilization can occur. May also referred to as sperm mobility.
Stillbirth: This is a fetal death that occurs after the 20th week of gestation.
Stimulated Cycle: Refers to an ART cycle in which a woman receives oral or injected fertility drugs to stimulate her ovaries to produce more follicles and hence, more eggs.
Thawed Embryo Cycle: The same as a frozen embryo cycle.
Tubal Factor: This is a diagnostic category that is used when at woman’s fallopian tubes are blocked or damaged, thus making it difficult for the egg to be fertilized or for an embryo to travel to the uterus.
Unstimulated Cycle: This refers to an ART cycle in which the woman does not receive drugs to stimulate her ovaries to produce more follicles. Instead, follicles develop naturally.
ZIFT: Zygote Intrafallopian Transfer, which is an ART procedure in which eggs are collected from a woman’s ovary and fertilized outside her body. A laparoscope is then used to place the resulting zygote (fertilized egg) into the woman’s fallopian tube through a small incision in her abdomen.
Having a better understanding and knowledge of the technical medical terms you are liable to hear when you are dealing with infertility might make you feel a little better informed!
Tagged as:
Fertility,
get pregnant,
infertility,
Trying To Conceive
