Good News: New Study Gives Hope for Women Who Can't Get Pregnant

Despite the numerous methods of contraception available in the market at present, 45% of all pregnancies are still considered unintended. Nevertheless, there are couples who try ardently to conceive to no avail. 

Numerous researches have been conducted over the last few decades in order to shed light on why some women find it difficult to bear a child. Experts have yet to exhaust all possible reasons for infertility. In fact, recently a team of scientists from the University of Southhampton has discovered yet another cause of the struggle to conceive.

 In a study published in Scientific Reports, Dr. Simon Lane and his team, detailed how the effects of endometriosis affects the egg cell's ability to fertilize. Endometriosis is a condition that affects nearly 10% of the population. It is characterized by chronic abdominal pain, irregularity of monthly periods and possible infertility. 

Women who suffer from endometriosis have a hostile uterine environment unsuitable for egg cells to mature. Moreover, endometriosis results to follicular fluid in the ovary that can compromise the health of an egg cell. 

"We believe these results could have clinical implications for many women struggling to fall pregnant. We found that fluid from the follicles of patients with endometriosis was found to block egg maturation by generating free-radical chemicals called Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in the egg, which damaged their DNA" quipped Lane as reported by Science Daily. 

Yin Cheong, Professor at the University of Southampton, explains that the recent research sheds hope to couples who are trying to have a baby. The first step in providing treatment lies in identifying what exactly is wrong with a patient:

"Endometriosis is strongly associated with infertility and up to 50 per cent of women who require infertility treatment have it. Struggling to have a baby can be terribly upsetting for a couple, so this new research gives some hope to people"