This is one of a series of news items from abstracts of studies presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine as complied by Dr. David Meldrum, Scientific Director of Reproductive Partners. We appreciate the enormous amount of work it takes to compile and comment on these abstracts.
In this study reported at ASRM, 87 women had analysis of physical activity during the prior year before their IVF cycle. Women with activity scores above the median had an odds ratio of 2.93 times those who did not exercise for the odds of conceiving. This finding goes along with another from Harvard which showed an increase in the odds of success with moderate activity. Physical activity reduces oxidative stress and stimulates a major circulating HDL-associated anti-oxidant, PON-1. However, this favorable health habit could also be correlated with other lifestyle factors such as diet that could be responsible for part or all of this association.
So it is important to maintain a healthy life style even prior to trying to conceive.