Female Infertility

Infertility means that couples have been trying to get pregnant with frequent intercourse for at least a year with no success. Female infertility, male infertility or a combination of the two affects millions of couples in the United States. In humans, infertility may describe a woman who is unable to conceive as well as being unable to carry a pregnancy to full term.

Symptoms: The main symptom of infertility is the inability of a couple to get pregnant. A menstrual cycle that's too long (35 days or more), too short (less than 21 days), irregular or absent can be a sign of lack of ovulation, which can be associated with female infertility. There may be no other outward signs or symptoms.

Diagnosis: Blood tests and urine tests to check hormone levels. A Pap smear to check the health of the cervix. Urine tests to evaluate LH surges. Some of the tests such as Laproscopy and Hysterosalpingogram.

Treament: Treatment depends on the cause of infertility, but may include counselling, fertility treatments, which include in vitro fertilization. Drugs used for both women and men include clomiphene citrate, human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues, aromatase inhibitors, and metformin.

Epidemology: Fertility rate (FR) was taken as statistical indicator for potential changes in fertility mediated by pesticides. The study analyzed a large population from an agricultural area of the North Eastern Italy, the Veneto Region. According to the estimated quantities of sprayed pesticides, the area was divided in three sub-areas with expected low, intermediate and high pesticide exposure. Comparisons of FR failed to detect significant differences among populations from the three selected areas, while regression analysis showed a significant decrease of FR relative to the total amount of pesticides used.