I’m sure most of you have heard about the story of Ms. Suleman, who recently gave birth to octuplets (the longest surviving in the US) after having 8 embryos implanted into her womb.  This young mother of 6 (now 14) has a great passion for children and wanted badly to have her own large family; she did everything in her power to get it after having no success with natural conception. Yes, in vitro fertilization and infertility are words that you hear about so much these days that you’ve got to wonder, what’s happened to our reproductive health?  A condition of the reproductive system that impairs the conception of children, infertility affects about 6.1 million individuals throughout the US.  The diagnosis of infertility is usually given to couples who have been attempting to conceive for at least 1 year without success.

There are many theories out there as to the reasons for infertility.  Is it the pesticides and hormones in the foods we eat, is it the soy formula that babies drink or maybe a combination of all the above?  Well, a recent study from Brunel University, the Universities of Exeter and Reading and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in the UK has published research that may be another piece of the overall fertility puzzle.
Their study identified a new group of chemicals that act as ‘anti-androgens,’ meaning that they inhibit the function of testosterone, reducing male fertility. What’s scary is that some of these are contained in medicines, like cancer treatments, pharmaceutical treatments, and pesticides and the research suggests that when they get into the water system, they may play a pivotal role in imparting feminine effects in male fish.

These pollutants are likely to be coming from a wide variety of sources and the findings strengthen the argument that the hormone disruption in fish, may be related to the rise in male reproductive problems.  While there is not enough info out there yet for us to conclude, I repeat what I’ve always felt is best: stick to organic food and drink the cleanest water that you can for a clean and healthy body.  Your gonads will thank you.