IVF Success also Linked to the Mental State of the women

Emobileclinic Researchers Corner

A recent study linked IVF success to the Mental state of the woman. According to the study which was published in Fertility and Sterility, depression and anxiety may reduce a woman’s chance of having a baby through in vitro fertilization (IVF).

The use of antidepressants most especially serotonin re-uptake inhibitors over the last two years to three decades have increased to about 400% in U.S. With the incessant use as estimated to 1 in every 10 people usage, the researchers from Karolinska Institutet were of the opinion that the effects of these drugs had not been studied in relationship to infertility.
The researchers in a large study looked into the data of 23,000 women prior to their IVF and after their IVF in Sweden and compared it with the information on depression, anxiety and antidepressants prescription used among these women

The researchers found that 4.4 percent of women were diagnosed with depression and anxiety within two years before the start of their first IVF cycle. ”Compared to women who did not suffer from these conditions or take antidepressants before beginning their IVF treatment,” said the lead author, a medical student at the department of medical epidemiology and biostatistics. He also discovered that these women used antidepressants 6 months before they started their IVF. The researchers discovered that the success rate of IVF, miscarriage and life birth were affected negatively among these women.
The researchers noted that no risk was found in the use of serotonin re-uptake inhibitors and IVF but the use of other drugs which signal a more complex stage of depression affected IVF results, live births and increased miscarriage among the users. “Taken together, these results indicate that the depression and anxiety diagnoses may be the underlying factor leading to lower pregnancy and live birth rates in these women,” said Anastasia Nyman Iliadou, the lead author .

Even though the researchers did not take into consideration other factors such as life style and other genetic ,the researchers believe their results could have implications for both women struggling to conceive and women with depression or anxiety who may be planning to undergo fertility treatment.
Women are advised to talk to their doctors for all drugs intake prior to fertility investigations. Women who have symptoms of depression and anxiety combined with infertility should see a psychiatrist or other mental health professional for treatment options that will be beneficial and yielding as advised by National Infertility Association. Women on IVF treatment using any antidepressants should also consult with their doctors for an alternative treatments that will aid the IVF success.

Source
Cesta C, Viktorin A, Olsson H, et al. Depression, Anxiety, and antidepressant Treatment in Women: Association with In Vitro Fertilization Outcome. Fertility and Sterility. 2016.