Before Evaluation for Infertility, Take Azithromycin
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| Photo Credit: Hands on Belly, by Elliott McFadden |
A recent report from Germany (1) confirms many other studies (2,3,4) showing the most common cause of infertility is a uterine infection.
Of women being evaluated for infertility, 40% between the ages of 26 and 35 were infected with chlamydia or other mycoplasma, as were 36% of those with a previous history of uterine infection and 50% of those with tubal blockage.
In another study, more than 60% had evidence of a past infection. (5)
These infections cause both male and female infertility. The uterus is shaped like a bull's head with two horns. The ovaries are located outside of the uterus at the tip of each horn.
An egg travels from the ovaries down into the horn and then into the body of the uterus itself. Small hairs called cilia sweep the egg down the tubes into the body of the uterus.
A past infection with mycoplasma can damage the cilia (4) so the egg remains in the horn or an infection can block the tubes so the egg can't even reach the body of the uterus.
Mycoplasma can cause male infertility by damaging sperm so they are unable to swim toward the egg and fertilize it. Men and women can be infected with mycoplasma, even though all available tests can't find it (5,6) and they may have no symptoms at all.
They may have burning on urination, discomfort when the bladder is full or an urgency to void. Women may have only spotting between periods. (7)
Treatment with the newer erythromycins, clarithromycin, and azithromycin, can cure mycoplasma infections and help many women to become pregnant before they spend thousands of dollars on infertility evaluations.
Note: Azithromycin is commonly known as a
Z-packand is a 5-day course of antibiotics.
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You Make Me Feel Like an Unnatural Woman is not only about having children later in life: it's about what happens to a marriage—and to the spirit when even the most sought-after baby comes.
Wry, warm, and brutally honest, this is the book for any woman—whatever her age—who has awakened at 3AM to the insistent shrieks of her darling and thought: Oh man, I'm too old for this.
Paperback: 320 pagesClick to order/for more info: You Make Me Feel Like an Unnatural Woman
Category: antibiotic, infertile, infertility, Male Fertility, pregnancy, sperm
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