Opionato

An Easy Way To Increase Men’s Sperm Count

Fri, 12 Apr 2019 12:57:46 -0700

By Celine Chalas, PhD, Reproductive Biologist

A simple and affordable lifestyle modification by men can cause immediate increase in sperm count.

Several factors affect sperm count

Sperm count in men is affected by numerous factors. Examples of such factors include unhealthy diet, smoking, and/or being overweight. While modifications of this factors though lifestyle changes enhance men’s sperm count, the modification process itself is lengthy, not easy, and can be very costly.

Take this short fertility test to assess your fertility potential and to learn how to enhance your fertility. It will give you valuable information about yourself.

Heat is a known sperm count enemy

An established enemy of testicular function is heat. Some of the activities that affect sperm production due to overheating of the scrotum include:

Regular use of hot baths, saunas, and/or jacuzzi.
Long-time sitting positions (such as found in truck and taxi drivers)
Long-term cooking heat exposures (such as experienced in cooks and bakers).

Use of tight cloth has also been associated with warmer testis and thus lower sperm count.

PCOS affects your weight and fertility potential.

Beautiful at any size does not apply to your ovaries. Women’s reproductive health is affected by any number of conditions due to overweight. Chief among them is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).

Take this short fertility test to assess your fertility potential and to learn how to enhance your fertility. It will give you valuable information about yourself.

What is PCOS?

It is a complex set of multisystem symptoms includes insulin resistance which leads to weight gain and difficulty in losing weight. Insulin resistance and increased weight are then in and of themselves risk factors for developing Type II (non-insulin dependent) diabetes leading to overall hormonal dysfunction.

How does PCOS manifest?

PCOS’s hormonal dysfunction often manifests itself as problems with ovulation. Therefore, individuals withPCOS often either have anovulatory or oligoovulatory menstrual cycles. Oligoovulation is defined as infrequent or irregular ovulation (menstrual cycles longer than 36 days or less than 8 menstrual cycles within a calendar year). Anovulation is defined as the absence of ovulation when it would be normally expected in premenopausal women.

These irregular menstrual cycles make it extremely challenging to get pregnant. It’s like waiting for a train at a remote station. You don’t have a schedule and have no idea when the train will arrive. You can be waiting for a long time!

One Chemical To Avoid When Trying to Conceive

Tue, 18 Dec 2018 13:30:25 -0800

Acrylamide is dangerous. Find out why.

It’s always hard to give up the things you love. When it comes to trying to conceive a baby, it’s all worth it.

Take this short fertility test to assess your fertility potential and to learn how to enhance your fertility. It will give you valuable information about yourself.

What is acrylamide?

One hidden chemical found in many delicious foods is acrylamide. The National Toxicology Program has characterized acrylamide as carcinogenic and neurotoxic. It means that an overexposure to this chemical is dangerous and can affect your health, your fertility, and your baby.

How is acrylamide formed?

Acrylamide is formed when certain foods are cooked at high temperatures. Cereals, french fries, grains, and coffee beans produce acrylamide upon being fried. This foods are the ones you want to avoid when trying to conceive.

How to avoid acrylamide?

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the following precautionary measures should be adopted in order to reduce acrylamide during food preparation:

1. Soak potatoes before frying

2. When toasting bread, prefer a lighter brown color instead of dark brown

3. Boil, steam, or microwave rather than frying or baking

4. Avoid storing potatoes in the refrigerator

One example of changes you can make to your diet would be your choice of coffee. Instant coffee tends to have 100% more acrylamide...Read More

Opionato Reproductive Urologist: Michael Eisenberg, MD

Mon, 30 Jul 2018 09:24:21 -0700

Our Expert Spotlight series features our participating fertility experts who share Opionato's vision for democratizing fertility information and empowerment.

Title:

Reproductive Urologist

Current Affiliation:

Director, Male Reproductive Medicine & Surgery, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, California

Take this short f ertility test to assess your fertility potential and to learn how to enhance your fertility. It will give you valuable information about yourself.

How would your patients describe you in one word?

Thoughtful

What inspired you to be a Reproductive Urologist?

I knew early on that I wanted to work in andrology. It has this interesting mix of surgical and medical solutions that have a powerful impact on people’s lives.

Why did you join Opionato?

Opionato is a good way to spread knowledge to more people that don’t really have access to fertility experts.

How would you describe Opionato is one word?

Innovative.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

Helping people and discovering things other providers hadn’t considered in other to help couples have children.

What motivates you?

The opportunity to be intellectually curious and to be able to discover new things meant for the better of man...Read More

Buyers Be Aware When Purchasing Fertility Medication

Sun, 22 Jul 2018 14:09:28 -0700

By Jeanine Price, NP, WHNP

Here are some tips on what to be aware of when buying fertility medication.

We search the internet for flights and hotels for an upcoming vacation. We talk to every friend, neighbor, cousin, grocery clerk, and favorite barista, when looking for a new car. But what do we do when we need to purchase fertility medication for our upcoming fertility treatment?

Take this short fertility test to assess your fertility potential and to learn how to enhance your fertility. It will give you valuable information about yourself.

We most often turn to the internet to find affordable options. Fertility medications are expensive and costs can range anywhere between $2500 and $7500. Financing those fertility drugs is rarely an option and very few of us have insurance that will pay for it. Thus, not surprisingly, a quick online search reveals multiple reputable pharmacies that sell fertility medication directly to us while stating that they work directly with our fertility clinic. Some of those internet found pharmacies are as well based outside the US, commonly in the UK, Israel, or Canada. Other sources of fertility medications are sites such as eBay, Craigslist, fertility chat-rooms, and the like. Lastly, another source often considered is the leftover fertility medication supply from friends and family.

Price saving is initially very attractive, but buyer beware. Purchasing fertility medication from unknown or non-vetted sources is risky for so many reasons. Those include the concerns of quality, sterility, expiration, storage, and validity verification. Your main risk when purchasing fertility medication from untested or...Read More

Your Grandma and Your Conception Chance

Thu, 12 Jul 2018 10:47:52 -0700

By Svetlana Izrailevsky, RN, BSN

Here is why talking with grandma will help you with your fertility and your chance of becoming a mother.

I love Harry Potter. The scene that comes to mind involves Harry and the mirror of Erised. He is sitting in front of it and watching a parade of ancestors pass by, each with some feature that he himself has. While previous generations can bequeath dimples, red hair, and snub noses, they can also pass on certain health conditions. They may pass on a history of susceptibility to heart disease, diabetes, and depression. Although, these may not have been conclusively linked to genetics, it may still be a factor.

Take this short fertility test to assess your fertility potential and to learn how to enhance your fertility. It will give you valuable information about yourself.

You need to know about your family history to plan ahead about you fertility potential and pregnancy chance

As much as possible, you should learn about your family health history. And not just how grandma and grandpa met, but how long did it take grandma to get pregnant? Did she have any miscarriages? Did she have irregular menses or early onset of menopause? You may not feel the need to dig into all the old stories, because, after all, you are in your twenties and single or newly married and not ready to face parenthood. However, if you do discover any issues, you can impact your health right now and moving forward be much better prepared for when that time does come. It may also be that knowing now more...Read More

Why Childbirth is Not a One-Size-Fits-All Procedure

Wed, 06 Jun 2018 00:15:43 -0700

Childbirth is different for every women and should not be a generalized procedure.

New World Health Organization guidelines stress that women must have the freedom to make birth-related decisions and to be informed about international standards. This comes as evidence points to an increase in the use of medical labor interventions around the world. Those labor interventions are often being unnecessarily applied to women in labor. They also frequently disturb the positive childbirth experience of women and in some cases endanger the health of the mother and child. Examples of these types of interventions include caesarian section (C-section) and/or oxytocin infusion.

Take this short fertility test to assess your fertility potential and to learn how to enhance your fertility. It will give you valuable information about yourself.

Childbirth is different for every woman and each woman should be aware of her labor choices.

In order to avoid unnecessary labor interventions, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently released an updated childbirth guidance for the intrapartum care of women. This new report includes 26 new recommendations and reveals that essential labor management and effective delivery practices should be provided to all pregnant women and newborn babies.

New labor recommendations

Some of thoe new labor recommendations include:

· Dignity, privacy, and confidentiality of women should be maintained during labor irrespective of regions and cultures.

· Women should have the freedom to decide a companion of their choice during labor.

·...Read More

PCOS And The Sugar Balance

Thu, 17 May 2018 11:18:10 -0700

PCOS affects a woman’s ability to conceive and is linked to higher blood sugar and insulin levels.

Worldwide, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects 8% to 20% of women of childbearing age. It is caused by excess of the male hormone androgen. The overload of androgen prevents the eggs from being released from the ovary. As a result, the egg remains trapped in the ovarian follicle, causing multiple cysts—a characteristic of PCOS.

Take this short fertility test to assess your fertility potential and to learn how to enhance your fertility. It will give you valuable information about yourself.

PCOS is also linked to several health conditions such as diabetes. Also, women with PCOS tend to be insulin-resistant by having higher blood sugar and insulin levels. This causes a disturbance in the normal functioning of several organ systems in addition to the reproductive system.

Women with PCOS report at least two of the following symptoms:

Lower abdominal pain (due to the increased number of ovarian cysts)
Weight gain, excess body hair (especially on the face) and/or acne breakout
Irregular menstrual periods or none at all

There are several ways to ease PCOS symptoms.

Introduce more fibrous foods into your diet such as organic meat, fruits, and vegetables, which improve blood sugar and insulin levels.
Incorporate more exercise into your lifestyle.
Consider doing intermittent fasting - as a way to control your blood sugar levels - which reduces inflammation and helps in...Read More

Low Sperm Count is Linked to Men's Health

Sat, 05 May 2018 19:45:02 -0700

Low sperm count in men has now being linked to numerous health disease risks.

A recent study examined 5,177 male partners of infertile couples in Italy. The participants underwent testicular ultrasound testing, semen analysis, fertility-related hormonal testing, and testing for other health related parameters. Here are some of the study's findings.

Take this short fertility test to assess your fertility potential and to learn how to enhance your fertility. It will give you valuable information about yourself.

Several men's health parameters are affected with low sperm count

Weight

The study found that men with low sperm count (with less than 39 million per ejaculate) were 1.2 times more likely to have higher body fat and an increased waist circumference. These men also had higher blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels.

Low Testosterone

The study found that half of the men with low testosterone levels (51%) showed low bone mass that is commonly known as osteopenia (osteoporosis). The results also indicated that men with low sperm count were 12 times more likely to have low testosterone level (hypogonadism).

Metabolic Syndrome

The study outcome showed too that men with low sperm count experienced higher chances of having the so called metabolic syndrome, a combination of conditions that is associated with diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Insulin resistance was also found to be higher in these men.

It is important to remember that overall health is linked to fertility and vice versa

This important...Read More

Opionato Reproductive Endocrinologist: Kenan Omurtag, MD

Sat, 24 Mar 2018 10:46:04 -0700

Dr. Kenan Omurtag, MD

Our Expert Spotlight series features our participating fertility experts who share Opionato's vision for democratizing fertility information and empowerment.

Title:

Reproductive Endocrinologist

Take this short fertility test to assess your fertility potential and to learn how to enhance your fertility. It will give you valuable information about yourself.

Current Affiliation:

Assistant Professor, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Washington University in St. Louis

Fun fact about me:

I’m a good dancer.

Hobbies:

Sports and music.

Children:

3 girls.

What inspired you to become an Reproductive Endocrinologist?

It’s really simple. Reproductive endocrinology is at the frontier of science. The reproductive pursuit is a very intimate one and outside of someone struggling with cancer it’s probably the most intimate interaction you’ll encounter in medicine. That was very valuable to me. I wanted to go into medicine to do something that actually mattered. You ride the emotions with the patient and you give a little bit of...Read More