Deakin Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine Centre Bringing over 20 years of  Experience  in Acupuncture and Chinese medicine to Canberra Inner South Deakin  ACT

CAN HAVING THRUSH AFFECT FERTILITY?

Cervical mucous disorders can reduce the chances of conception. Healthy fertile mucous nourishes and facilitates the movement of sperm towards the egg causing fertilisation. The cervix can be dry which may be due to dehydration, low estrogen levels or as a result from previous chlomid cycles. Other causes could be a yeast infection or a pH imbalance, an acidic pH of 5.5 is considered normal, any of these can contribute to cervical hostility and prevent spontaneous conception.

I have helped many couples conceive, using protocols for lifestyle and diet changes
that are based on over 18 years of knowledge, clinical observations and successful pregnancies. Over the decades I have suspected thrush, yeast and genital infections are linked to cervical hostility, when candidiasis and gut dysbiosis are systemically treated there is an increase in spontaneous conception amongst couples.

Low grade thrush infections are often unnoticed, it is believed that 20 percent of thrush is asymptomatic. Many clients are often unaware their symptoms are linked to infection . Symptoms that have persisted for many years, going as far back to childhood become familiar and we become “used to them”, it’s easy for sub-optimal health to be “normalised”. I am committed to helping you increase your fertility and achieving greater health outcomes and to help you reach your best health potential.

Candidiasis and Fertility vaginal thrush may be symptoms of chronic systemic candidiasis. Candidiasis per se may not be totally responsible for all of the infertility problems that we see, underlying health imbalances that predispose the sufferer to chronic candidiasis may also be a contributing factor to it's problematic overgrowth. It can be a vicious cycle, for a yeast infection to persist it is essential that underlying problems be identified, diagnosed, properly treated and then kept under control.

Candidiasis infection according to Dr Alan Beer, who has pioneered research in reproductive failure by investigating correlations between the immune system and reproductive health and has helped many couples with infertility, IVF or implantation failure and recurrent miscarriage .
“ ….candida can produce root-like structures that bore into the intestinal walls, enabling toxins and partially digested proteins to escape into the bloodstream. When this happens the immune response is fierce….....IgA antibodies are rapidly fired out, the macrophages are mobilised and battalions of NK cells are deployed. If this immunological battle is prolonged, all kinds of allergic and autoimmune reactions may eventually take place , including food sensitivities, arthritis, asthma, hives, acne, eczema, hay fever and bronchitis. An intestine that is overrun with candida is more vulnerable to colonization of aggressive bacteria, which may increase the risk of miscarriage and preterm birth” .

Sydney Naturopath Peter De Ruyter author of “Coping with Candida” writes
“chronic candidiasis can seriously affect fertility and reproductive health, it can worsen significantly during pregnancy due to hormonal activity, and may cause considerable ill health in the mother and adversely affect the child”.

I have observed that systemic candidiasis can occur in women who have been diagnosed with endometriosis. A cross-sectional study published in 2010 correlated the prevalence of endometriosis with other comorbid conditions. In this study 4331 women with surgically diagnosed endometriosis were assessed for cancer, endocrine diseases and infections, researchers found nearly two-thirds of the women reported they also had recurrent upper respiratory tract infections 35% and recurrent vaginal infections 29% The nature of vaginal infections ( bacterial, viral or fungal) is not known and many women with recurrent vaginitis may have had undiagnosed vulvo-vaginal candidiasis. The correlation between cancers and endocrine diseases occurred far less commonly among this group than the researchers originally hypothesised.