Dissertation
Female infertility: generational obesity, dietary effects, and later health outcomes
University of Iowa
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
Summer 2022
DOI: 10.25820/etd.006640
Abstract
Female infertility is defined as women could not have successful pregnancy after 12 months of unprotected regular intercourse or 6 months if they are over 35 years old It is a common problem worldwide. In the United States, according to CDC report, about 19% heterosexual women aged 15 to 49 years old with no prior births would experience female infertility problems. Moreover, among the same population, about 26% women would have trouble in getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to term. One risk factor associated with the development of infertility is obesity. However, the mechanism behind obesity related to female infertility throughout the life course is not clear.
The medical treatments for infertility can be very expensive. Proper diets are suggested to help losing weight and improving female infertility. Low-carbohydrate diets and low-fat diets are two diets used for weight control, but evidence for supporting the benefits of the two diets on enhancing fertility are sparse.
Moreover, for women with a history of infertility, the specific guidelines for health in their later life are lacking. Some observational studies have found that women with a history of infertility are associated with higher risks of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Low-carbohydrate diets and low-fat diets have also been studied in general populations with benefits showing reductions in the risk of chronic diseases. However, these benefits have not been studied in women with a history of infertility.
The long-term goal of this research is to help to manage obesity and to prevent female infertility through dietary methods in the United States. The aim is to identify how body mass index change influences the risk of female infertility and the effects of obesity in more than one maternal generation on the risks of female offspring infertility. Moreover, this study aims to detect the potential benefits of low-carbohydrate diets and low-fat diets on female infertility and reduce the risks of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes in women later life who have a history of infertility.
This research has found that obesity in participants’ own generation is significantly associated with the risk of female infertility, while obesity status in maternal generation and grand-maternal generation is not significantly associated with the risk of participants’ infertility. As two weight-loss diets, low-carbohydrate diets in the long run are not significantly associated with the risk of female infertility, while low-fat diets could be associated with the increased risk of female infertility. Furthermore, among women with a history of infertility, the two weight-loss diets do not have significant benefits on lowering the risks of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease from a long-term perspective.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Female infertility: generational obesity, dietary effects, and later health outcomes
- Creators
- Yuxiao Wu
- Contributors
- Linda G. Snetselaar (Advisor)Wei Bao (Committee Member)Kelli K. Ryckman (Committee Member)Kai Wang (Committee Member)Mark K. Santillan (Committee Member)Abey Eapen (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Epidemiology
- Date degree season
- Summer 2022
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- DOI
- 10.25820/etd.006640
- Number of pages
- xx, 127 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2022 Yuxiao Wu
- Language
- English
- Description illustrations
- illustrations, tables
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 117-127).
- Public Abstract (ETD)
- The rate of female infertility is increasing annually all over the world. It is estimated to affect about 19% women of reproductive age in the United States. Obesity is defined as excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health and is considered to be one important risk factor for the development of female infertility. While whether obesity across maternal generations has influence on female offspring infertility status is unknown. As two weight-loss diets, whether low-carbohydrate diets and low-fat diets have benefits on preventing female infertility in a long run are unknown. Moreover, female infertility could be one important indicator for chronic diseases development in later life stage. Low-carbohydrate diets and low-fat diets have been found to have preventive effects on type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases among general population, while whether the two weight-loss diets have the same preventive effects for the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease among women with a history of infertility is not clear. This research reports that women’s own obesity status has influence on the risk of infertility, while their mothers’ and grandmother’s obesity do not have significant effects. Lowcarbohydrate diets and low-fats have no significantly beneficial effects on preventing female infertility, and also have no significantly beneficial effects on preventing chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease among women with a history of infertility.
- Academic Unit
- Epidemiology
- Record Identifier
- 9984285152602771
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