Vitamin D deficiency linked to infertility

Dubai Lack of Vitamin D has been linked to the high rate of infertility among women in the GCC, a senior medical professional told XPRESS.

Dr Human M. Fatemi, Senior Medical Director for the Centre of Reproductive Medicine in Brussels and Director of Burjeel Hospital Centre of Reproductive Medicine, Abu Dhabi, said: “After we observed that fertility issues were common among young women, we did an investigation and found a strong correlation between vitamin D deficiency and quality of eggs in the ovary as well as reserves. The problem is very common apart from the effect that consanguineous marriages (among people closely related) have on fertility.”

Male infertility

In men, infertility is linked more to smoking and obesity, he said.

Fatemi will present these studies at a European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology meeting in London in July.

According to DHA statistics 81 per cent of women in the Middle East suffer vitamin D deficiency and this number is feared to touch 100 per cent.

One in six couples in the UAE face fertility issues. “One of the main observations is that the quality and reserve of eggs in the ovary is poor among women who are much younger, in their 20s. Usually one would find this only when a woman is older, maybe in her late 40s or 50s,” said Fatemi.

MSD, a healthcare provider, has launched Elonva, designed to reduce trauma for couples undergoing fertility treatment. The drug, which must be taken once in seven days, reduces the number of injections a patient receives while undergoing treatment.