Eating Disorders And Infertility. Important Fact About This Disorders!

What are Eating Disorders?

Eating disorders cause unhealthy or abnormal eating habits which tend to develop due to
psychological conditions. People can sometimes directly develop an eating disorder or tend to
develop one because of having another psychological condition like PTSD or bipolar disorder.
They can impact one’s mental and physical wellbeing. In extreme cases, they can cause serious.
health consequences which can be fatal! Eating disorders usually start when one either avoids
food at all or over eats to the extent of vomiting.
Although eating disorders can affect anyone at any point in their lifetime, it is often seen in
adolescents and young women. Eating disorders are usually associated with mental conditions
like anxiety over eating too much or too less in order to look fat or thin, they are concerned with
food, weight or shape of a person. The two most common types of eating disorders are anorexia
nervosa and anorexia bulimia which are often reported in women.

Types of Eating Disorders

There are many different types of eating disorders a person can develop which results in different
styles of abnormal eating patterns. Anorexia nervosa is a disorder which occurs when a person
views themselves as overweight, they tend to avoid eating certain types of food which help them
restrict calories. These people often have strict eating patterns, intense fear of gaining weight,
and a willingness to get thin at any cost. Moreover, their mental health is severely affected as
they suffer from serious body image issues, low self-esteem as they hold other’s opinions on
their body higher than what they themselves perceive as major anxiety and sometimes
depression. This disorder can be very harmful to the body as overtime, the person may
experience thinning of bones, brittle hairs and nails, infertility. In rare cases, it can lead to heart,
brain, or multi-organ failure and death.
Bulimia nervosa is another very common eating disorder where people tend to eat unusually
large amounts of food in a specific time period. People with this disorder often eat large amounts
of food with lack of control, and they have purging episodes to prevent them from gaining
weight. On the mental health side, these people also have self-esteem influenced by body shape
and weight, and fear of gaining weight despite having normal weight. In many cases, People end
up with sore throats, swelling of salivary glands in cheeks, or heartburn. In rare cases, It can lead
to oesophageal tears, gastric rupture and dangerous cardiac arrhythmias.
Pica is another eating disorder where a person consumes things which are not food items. They
crave substances like dirt, soil, chalk, soap, paper etc. Pica can be considered as a coping
mechanism for mental disorders like OCD and Schizophrenia. People suffering from Pica often
go through conditions like intestinal blockages, choking and in severe cases even lead poisoning.

Infertility

Infertility is a disease of the male or female reproductive system and is defined as the inability to
conceive after regular unprotected sexual intercourse for more than 12 months. In the female
reproductive system, infertility can be caused, among other things, by many abnormalities that
affect the ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes, and endocrine system. Infertility can be primary or
secondary. Primary infertility is when a person has never achieved a pregnancy, and secondary
infertility is when at least one previous pregnancy has been achieved.

How does Eating Disorder affect fertility?

Fertility has proven to be a common side effect of eating disorders. When a woman is suffering
from an eating disorder, they lack weight, nutrition, basic vitamins and adequate amounts of fat
which affects the endocrine system. Our endocrine system is responsible for Releasing
reproductive and growth hormones. This in turn disrupts ovulation, or reduces the quality of the
eggs and can cause irregular periods or stop them completely. As ovulation stops or the quality
of eggs decreases, one has very low or zero chances of getting pregnant. In severe cases it can
even lead to ovarian failure or very early menopause.
However, recently women with eating disorders have had the chance of becoming pregnant even
if it took time. In order to conceive, they had to be first treated for their disorder And then try to
conceive. If even after 12 months of trying they couldn’t, it was advised to visit a fertility
specialist. Moreover, there have been many surprise or unplanned pregnancies reported by
women with eating disorders. But considering the woman has an eating disorder, they also
struggle with anxiety, depression, stress or even vomiting. They cannot provide the child with the right conditions and nutrients for it to be healthily born. Thus, they need to be regularly
monitored, given medications and pay heed to their eating habits to acquire the correct weight and body to carry a child.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), infertility can be described as the inability to become pregnant, maintain a pregnancy, or carry a pregnancy to live birth.

Another definition says that infertility is the inability to get pregnant despite having frequent, unprotected sex for at least a year for most couples. This definition has been recently updated, adding women aged 35 years or older who have been not able to conceive after 6 months of unprotected sex.

Infertility is more common than you might think. Indeed, studies show that 12% to 15% of couples are unable to conceive after 1 year of having unprotected sex, and after 2 years, 10% of couples still have not had a live-born baby. This means that around 1 in 7 couples may have difficulty conceiving. In the UK, this is approximately 3.5 million people. Infertility across the world can be found in two main forms. These are: Primary infertility – refers to the cases where someone with no pregnancy history has difficulty to conceive Secondary infertility – where someone has had 1 or more pregnancies in the past, but is having difficulty conceiving again Infertility can actually be a result from may result from an issue with either you or your partner, or a combination of female and male factors that contribute to infertility. According to the NHS (National Health Statistics) report: In one-third of infertile couples, the problem is with the man. In one-third of infertile couples, the problem can’t be identified or is with both the man and woman. In one-third of infertile couples, the problem is with the woman.

Thank You For Reading ✨

TRULY UPDATE

Written By – Hetvi Kanakia