Women with unexplained infertility (UI) were twice as likely to have a raised TSH level as compared to women who were not able to conceive because of male factor infertility reports the results of a cross-sectional study published in February issue of Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
About 10-30% of the infertile couples have unexplained infertility, defined as an inability to conceive with 12 months of unprotected intercourse with no explainable cause.
Data on the association between subclinical hypothyroidism and infertility is so far limited because of different levels of TSH cutoffs.
For this study, the Harvard based researchers looked at data from large academic health system over a period of 12 years and recruited 239 women with TSH (≤5 mIU/L) and prolactin levels (≤20 ng/ml) within normal range. Of these women, 187 were diagnosed as UI (study arm), while in 52 women the male partner suffered from azoospermia or severely oligospermia with no other factor diagnosed for infertility (control arm).
After accounting for age, body mass index, and smoking status, it was seen that nearly 27% of women in UI group had TSH ≥2.5 mIU/L as compared to 13% in control group (P < 0.05).
The prolactin levels were comparable between both the groups.
Pouneh K. Fazeli, study’s senior author and a researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston said, “Since our study shows that women with unexplained infertility have higher TSH levels compared to women experiencing infertility due to a known cause, more research is needed to determine whether treating these higher TSH levels with thyroid hormone can improve their chances of getting pregnant.”
Media courtesy: The National Academy of Hypothyroidism
Many women are suffering from unexplained pregnancy. It will be treated with IVF. The IVF success rates are increasing based on the age, diet, and other things.
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