Therapy can help stress-related infertility

Stresses of everyday life can cause infertility but behavioural therapy can help.Instead of resorting to expensive drugs, research has shown that reducing stress through a combination of measures can restore ovulation and fertility. Stress can be a cause of infertility, in men and in women, and it can be managed. A combination of small stresses can cause amenorrhoea, a lack of monthly periods and ovulation, which has previously been associated with under-nutrition and excessive exercise. Researchers from the Emory University in Atlanta, USA, tested the impact of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) on women of normal weight who had suffered from amenorrhoea for more than six months. They confirmed that the women were stressed by measuring levels of cortisol. Amounts of the hormone increase during stress. The women were divided into two groups. Half received CBT, which consisted of coaching on nutrition, exercise and ways to reduce stress, for 20 weeks, and the other half received no therapy.

A staggering 80 percent of the women who received CBT started to ovulate again, as opposed to only 25 percent of those randomised to observations, with a fall in their levels of cortisol. Two women who received CBT became pregnant shortly after finishing the treatment.An estimated five to 10 percent of women suffer from amenorrhoea, about half of which is thought to be related to stress. So at any one time, five percent of the women in the world of reproductive age have stress-related amenorrhoea. CBT offers a holistic treatment that is safe, cost effective and easy-to-implement. However, further larger studies are needed larger study to confirm the results.