Fertility is an ongoing process that begins at birth. When a girl is born, she typically has between 1 and 2 million eggs in her ovaries. By the time a girl enters puberty, she has 300,000 to 500,000 eggs. Typically, a woman will release a mature egg during her monthly cycle usually between Day 11 - Day 21 of their cycle, counting from the first day of the last menstrual period (LMP). This is what many refer to as the "fertile time" of a woman's cycle, because sexual intercourse during this time increases the chance of pregnancy. Ovulation can occur at various times during a cycle, and may occur on a different day each month. If the egg is successfully fertilized, a pregnancy results. Infertility does not mean that it is impossible to get pregnant.
Typically, experts will treat a couple for infertility that is not able to get pregnant after at least one year of trying to do so. A woman that is able to get pregnant and then has repeat miscarriages may also be treated for infertility. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2002, about 12 percent of women (7.3 million) in the United States aged 15 to 44 had difficulty getting pregnant or carrying a baby to term.
Trouble conceiving is also associated with perimenopause. Read more about pregnancy and the menopausal transition here.
In many healing sciences, infertility is not considered a condition. Rather, it is considered an imbalance in the body that once corrected, will result in conception and pregnancy.
Evening Primrose Oil or EPO promotes fertility because it improves by improving the quality of cervical fluid, making the mucus a more fertile hospitable medium for the sperm. This aids the sperm to swim through the uterus and into the fallopian tube , and to the egg. Cervical fluid of good quality also helps the sperm to stay alive for up to five days inside the fallopian tube, thus increasing the chance of conception.
Evening Primrose Oil's healing properties is largely attributed to it's its high concentration of the essential fatty acid known as gamma-linolenic acid (GLA).This fatty acid is converted to prostaglandin E1, a substance which has anti-inflammatory properties. Prostaglandin E1 may also act as a blood thinner and blood vessel dilator. The A lack of GLA is thought to cause premenstrual syndrome. Evening Primrose Oil can help in relieving the discomforts that occur with premenstrual syndrome because it replaces replenishes the gamma linolenic acid (GLA).
Evening Primrose oil is also used as treatment for other disorders including asthma, high cholesterol, diabetic neuropathy, heart disease and arthritis.
There are several studies on the effects of black cohosh for menopausal symptoms. Many of these studies used an estrogen product in the control group. Almost all of these studies suggest that the efficacy of black cohosh extract is similar to that of estrogen in the treatment of menopausal symptoms. However, drawing definitive conclusions from the results of these studies is difficult because most of them are open trials and lack long-term follow up.
The estrogenic estrogen-like action of black cohosh is thought to stimulate the ovaries and could help boost fertility in women's hormonal imbalances. However, there is too little research to give a solid recommendation for black cohosh in the treatment of infertility.
