fertility problems Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Obesity’s Impacts on Our Brain, Dementia, and Fertility

The AHA! Team — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 05:24:53 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – Weight loss can decrease dementia risk and improve mental performance and fertility. As I’ve discussed previously, in the ABCs of the health consequences of obesity, A is for Arthritis, B is for Back Pain and Blood Pressure, C is for Cancer, and D is for Diabetes. That brings us to E, which is for Encephalopathy. Encephalopathy means brain disease. There are consistent data linking obesity in middle age to a higher risk of dementia later in life. Researchers found that individuals who are overweight have about a one-third higher risk of dementia and those who are obese in mid-life have about 90 percent greater risk. The risk isn’t limited only to future dysfunction, though. People with excess body weight don’t appear to think as clearly at any age. “It was found that obese participants showed broad impairments on executive functions” of the brain, including working memory, decision-making, planning, cognitive flexibility, and verbal fluency. “From resisting temptation to keeping long-term goals in mind, executive functions play a critical role in everyday life,” noted a meta-analysis and review of 72 studies on the issue. People may think about their obesity…as much as five times an hour According to researchers, people may think about their obesity and the resulting stigma they experience as much as five times an hour, but the cognitive deficits do not appear to arise just from distraction; there are structural brain differences between individuals who are at an ideal weight versus overweight. A review entitled “Does the Brain Shrink as the Waist Expands?” noted gray matter atrophy across all ages among those carrying excess body fat. It’s this reduced brain volume that has been correlated with lower executive function. As you can see below and at 1:42 in my video The Effects of Obesity on Dementia, Brain Function, and Fertility, compromised integrity of the rest of the brain—the white matter—suggests accelerated brain aging, even in young adults and children with obesity. Cognitive deficits in younger populations suggest there’s something about obesity itself that is affecting brain function, rather than a later clinical consequence, such as high blood pressure. Purported mechanisms for this executive dysfunction include obesity-related inflammation and oxidative stress. So, does weight loss improve cognitive function? Based on a meta-analysis of 20 studies, researchers found that mental performance across a variety of domains can be significantly improved with even modest weight loss. However, no studies have yet to be done to determine if this then translates into a normalization of Alzheimer’s disease risk. Back to the ABCs of obesity’s health consequences, F is for Fertility—or rather failed fertility. “Overweight and obese persons seeking fertility should be educated on the detrimental effects of fatness and the benefits of weight reduction, including improvement in pregnancy rates,” one meta-analysis concluded. Men also may suffer impaired fertility. The heavier a man is, the greater his risk of having a low sperm count or being completely sterile, as you can see below and at 3:01 in my video. This may be due in part to the effects of excess body fat on testosterone levels. Fat isn’t the primary site of estrogen production in only postmenopausal women, but in men, too. An enzyme in body fat converts testosterone into estrogen. Men losing weight and going from obese to overweight could potentially raise the testosterone levels in their blood by 13 percent. A more dramatic cause of infertility in obese men… is called a “hidden penis.” The condition, which is also described in the medical literature as a “hidden, buried, concealed, trapped, and inconspicuous” penis, occurs when excess fat in the pubic area subsumes the penis (since its base is attached internally to the pubic bone). The moist enfolding skin surfaces can result in chronic inflammatory dermatitis leading to scarring and requiring a surgical intervention. If you missed the previous blog posts, I covered The Best Knee Replacement Alternative for Osteoarthritis Treatment and The Effects of Obesity on Back Pain, Blood Pressure, Cancer, and Diabetes. I continue the topic of obesity and weight with videos in the related posts below. I cover all of this and more at length in my book How Not to Diet, and its culinary companion, The How Not to Diet Cookbook, has more than 100 delicious, weight-conscious recipes. Request them from your local library. For more on the health conditions discussed in this video, see the Alzheimer’s disease, cognition, and fertility topic pages. Key Takeaways Middle-aged individuals who are overweight have a one-third higher risk of dementia, while those who are obese face a 90 percent greater risk later in life. Obesity is linked to impaired executive brain functions, such as memory, decision-making, and planning, even in younger individuals, due to structural changes like reduced gray matter. Obesity can cause premature brain aging, with reduced gray and white matter integrity, leading to cognitive deficits that suggest brain function is affected by obesity itself, not just related conditions. Modest weight loss can significantly improve cognitive function, though it’s unclear if this reduces Alzheimer’s disease risk. Obesity can negatively affect fertility in both men and women, with excess fat lowering testosterone levels in men and contributing to conditions like “hidden penis” that may require surgical intervention. To read the original article click here.

The post Obesity’s Impacts on Our Brain, Dementia, and Fertility appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

New Israeli Tech Doubles IVF Success Rates

The AHA! Team — Fri, 14 Mar 2025 05:03:06 +0000

Zachy Hennessey via Israel21c – The new method accurately identifying high-quality sperm cells without using potentially harmful chemical dyes. A recent Israeli advancement in fertility science may hold the key to combating the ongoing global decline in fertility rates, by nearly doubling the success rate of in vitro fertilization (IVF). The new technology, developed in the lab of Tel Aviv University Prof. Natan T. Shaked, takes advantage of the light-conducting properties of cells, allowing embryologists to visualize and analyze the internal structure of live sperm cells with extreme accuracy. Researchers can now peek into the microscopic world of reproductive cells with unprecedented detail By using advanced imaging techniques that map cellular structures without invasive procedures, researchers can now peek into the microscopic world of reproductive cells with unprecedented detail. This allows for measurements of previously unattainable parameters like cell mass, volume and structural integrity. Until now, embryologists have had to rely on subjective criteria when evaluating the viability of a given sperm sample — the cells’ external appearance or motility. One commonly used method involves the use of chemical dyes, which better enable the inspection of sperm cells but risks damaging the cells in the process. “Currently, about 90 percent of sperm cells that appear suitable to embryologists actually fail to meet internal morphological criteria,” explained Shaked. “Our technology changes that, offering a new tool to significantly improve IVF outcomes.” The result is an increase in IVF success rates from 34% to 65% — nearly twice the amount. In a clinical trial at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, the technology resulted in 20 pregnancies out of 31 embryo transfers, compared to just 14 pregnancies out of 41 transfers in the control group. The technology is currently being implemented in clinics throughout Israel (in Ashkelon, Kfar Saba, Ramat HaHayal, Afula and Nahariya), as well as internationally in California and Japan. Dozens of couples have enrolled in clinical trials. Shaked describes it as providing “a new and essential tool to identify sperm cells that meet the World Health Organization criteria for IVF labs.” A description of the new method was published in the journals PNAS, Advanced Science, and Fertility and Sterility. No better time to boost births Fertility rates in developed countries have been declining for decades. According to United Nations statistics, the average global total fertility rate has dropped from 4.8 births per woman in 1970 to 2.2 in 2024. This demographic shift threatens to impact economic stability, social structures and the long-term sustainability of many developed nations. “Fertility issues are becoming increasingly critical: one in six couples faces fertility problems, with male-related issues accounting for half of the cases,” explained Dr. Bozhena Saar-Ryss from Barzilai Medical Center. “Over the past few decades, sperm counts in young, healthy men have dropped by approximately 50%. “Additionally, in certain countries like Japan, Korea and Spain, dramatic declines in birth rates are leading to population shrinkage. The causes for this are diverse and include societal trends like career prioritization and delayed marriages, as well as health issues potentially caused by environmental pollutants,” Saar-Rhys added. These statistics highlight the need for innovative reproductive technologies like the one developed at Tel Aviv University. Selecting the best swimmers Backed by Tel Aviv University’s investment fund and technology transfer company Ramot, the technology is being commercialized through QART Medical, a startup that aims to bring this solution to fertility clinics worldwide. Following the initial success of their research, Shaked and his team are currently developing an additional method to detect DNA fragmentation in sperm cells. “Our goal is to provide embryologists with a technology that enables individual sperm selection based on three essential criteria: motility, internal structure and unfragmented DNA,” says Shaked. “This will allow embryologists to select the best sperm cell for fertilization and dramatically improve success rates in this vital procedure.” To read the original article click here.

The post New Israeli Tech Doubles IVF Success Rates appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Air Pollution Linked to Dementia in YOUNG Brains, Under 30 years of Age

AHA Publisher — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 07:00:59 +0000

Damon Hines via NaturalHealth365 – Giovanni Papini famously said, “Breathing is the greatest pleasure in life.” But that’s clearly not the case when there’s an abundance of air pollution, and when each subsequent breath can increase the potential risk of lung disease, fertility problems and, even dementia. Today, air pollution is widely considered a public health emergency. For example, according to the World Health Organization, more than 90% of the global population lives with toxic and unsafe air, with air pollution accounting for 8.8 million early deaths a year. If that statistic isn’t bad enough, a report from Greenpeace Southeast Asia and the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air found that burning gas, coal, and oil causes three times the number of deaths as traffic accidents. Comprehensive analysis now suggests that air pollution may damage “every organ in the body.” Plus, believe it or not, a recent study published in the Journal of Environmental Research links air pollution particles in young brain’s to dementia and Parkinson’s disease. Be Careful: Chronic Exposure to Air Pollution Shown to INCREASE the Risk of Neurodegenerative Diseases According to the study, which was led by Lilian Calderon-Garciduena at the University of Montana, children and young adults living in Mexico City – a sprawling, urban center with a major air pollution issue – already show growths, plaques, and tangles associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Researchers found an alarming amount of nanoparticles in the brainstems of 186 young people, ages 11 month to 27 years – which are believed to have reached the brain after being inhaled into the lungs (first) and deposited into the bloodstream. More research is needed to determine whether or not these growths, plagues, and tangles cause the neurological diseases later in life. However, the nanoparticle pollutants were found in the substantia nigra, which is the area of the brain that is crucial to the progression of Parkinson’s disease. Furthermore, the aberrant proteins were not present in the brains of age-matched people from less polluted areas. A previous study, published in The Lancet, found that roughly one in 10 cases of Alzheimer’s in urban areas could be associated with living amid heavy traffic, and while that study stopped short of showing that exposure to exhaust and air pollution causes neurodegeneration, the groundbreaking research in Mexico City illustrates the physical mechanism by which the damage is done. How to Protect Yourself From Dirty Air Critical action is needed to improve air quality, and politicians and policymakers need to begin to address how to reduce exposure to air pollution. Improving emission standards for cars, trucks, heavy trucks, and power plants could help. But is it enough? No, not by a long shot, especially in crowded megacities such as Jakarta, New Deli, Beijing, Los Angeles and Mexico City, where air pollution levels are at a rate the most people find difficult to tolerate. Still, there are several significant ways to reduce your exposure to dirty air. Consider taking the following steps: Purchase a good quality, air purifier for your home (and workplace) Eliminate the use of toxic household or personal care products Reduce indoor fireplace usage (especially if the chimney is in poor condition) Minimize your travel on heavily trafficked roads Watch out for “third hand smoke” Have lots of cleansing plants in your home like, bamboo palms and peace lilies And, be sure to open your windows, as often as possible Sources for this article include: Theguardian.com To read the original article click here. For more articles from NaturalHealth365 click here.

The post Air Pollution Linked to Dementia in YOUNG Brains, Under 30 years of Age appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.