Diabetes and Infertility: Inflammation and Insulin Resistance
The effects of diabetes are far reaching and often impact other aspects of health that we don’t always anticipate. Infertility is a tragically common condition within society today. There are often many different factors that play into this, but one of them is blood sugar control. Many patients that have diabetes report struggling with infertility. This is often due to the impact that high blood sugar and insulin resistance play on hormone balance.
High blood sugar often causes many adverse affects on reproductive function and on maintenance of a pregnancy. High levels of glucose affect proper implantation of the fertilized egg within the uterus. Often, diabetic women are able to conceive at a normal rate. Therefore, the problem is often not the ability of the sperm to reach the egg, but a problem after the fertilization process. Often, the problem occurs once the egg travels down the fallopian tube and is not able to implant properly. The egg with either implant in an abnormal location, such as an ectopic pregnancy, or will result in a miscarriage.
Even if implantation does occur in the proper location within the uterus, high blood glucose can still cause numerous birth defects and damage to the developing fetus. In addition to damage that occurs to the embryonic cells, high blood glucose during pregnancy also primes the infant for insulin resistance in their childhood and adult years. Therefore high blood sugar has a lasting impact that will stay with the child long after conception. This excess intake of sugar causes an increase in the body weight of a fetus, dramatically increasing the potential for a c-section. A C-section impacts the child’s developing immune and digestive system, and also creates a high risk of infection for mother. Thus the child may be predisposed to developing colds, flus and other infections. However, the effects of high blood sugar are not solely with the child, during pregnancy, continual elevated sugar levels or imbalance in hormones can lead to gestational diabetes, even in women that have not had a past history of diabetes. Gestational diabetes can lead to numerous complications in both mother’s and baby’s health, and should be carefully monitored by a medical provider.
Glucose induced infertility is not restricted to women. High blood sugar levels, and the resulting hormone imbalance, can often result in erectile dysfunction and retrograde ejaculation within males. Retrograde ejaculation occurs when the semen backs up into the bladder rather than going forward into the female reproductive organs. Infertility is not the only risk that is involved with retrograde ejaculation, bladder infections and resulting complications can also occur. It is not only the dietary high sugar consumption, but also medications that can impact erectile function. Often the diabetic medications, used to treat high blood sugar, also impact male fertility. This is especially prevalent with the high amount of pharmaceutical use in society today. However, impaired reproductive function is not the only issue we need to be concerned with. Continual high blood glucose impacts sperm count and the quality of DNA found within the sperm. This can directly cause fertilization with miscarriage, damage during fetal development or birth defects that will continue past the womb.
Continual high blood sugar results in insulin resistance, which is a concept discussed in greater detail in Diabetes Type II: The Start of Insulin Resistance. Insulin is the hormone for growth and repair, glucose uptake and fat storage. As the body becomes insulin resistant the normal metabolism and formation of hormones is impaired. Excess insulin will result in more testosterone production within women. This often results in a form of infertility called polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS. Due to these higher levels of testosterone, the body is not able to generate the proper ratios of female sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone, to create and sustain a normal pregnancy. In addition to infertility, often these women will also start to develop chest and facial hair and other male characteristics from the excess levels of testosterone within circulation. If one hormone becomes unbalanced, it will often start a domino effect that will result in destabilization of many of the other hormones as well. This destabilization of hormones can often be seen in the body as uterine fibroids or cysts, endometriosis, erectile dysfunction or inflammation of the testes.
Now that we’ve talked in detail about the detrimental effects of high blood sugar, lets talk about how to fix it. Insulin resistance often occurs from excess inflammation within the body. There are many ways to decrease inflammation, however, one of the most effective ways is to change the diet. Decreasing inflammatory foods will enhance proper digestion and utilization of the nutrients from the healthy, whole foods that we eat. This will allow our body to create more energy, therefore optimizing metabolism and organ function. Additionally, adding excess proper supplementation is invaluable. Unfortunately, even with a perfect diet, our foods do not have the same nutrient quality they once did. Therefore, having supplementation added that is specific for individual needs would be a great benefit.
Another great way to increase sensitivity to insulin is through exercise. While exercising, especially during aerobic exercise, another pathway is opened to transport glucose into the cells. This additional pathway takes the heavy load off of insulin, decreasing the amount of insulin needed to decrease blood glucose. However, with exercise, it is important to know your individual boundaries. With excess inflammation, the body is already working very hard to maintain all normal functions. Exercise, though being great for the body, is still a stressor. Tissue damage results and the body needs to have proper time to be able to heal. If all of the healing nutrients are being used to decrease inflammation in other parts of the body, it will take a longer period of time to recover than may be expected.
High blood sugar and diabetes have an impact on fertility and conception. However, with proper dietary and lifestyle interventions, there is hope. Decreasing inflammation will result in balancing hormones and increase the opportunity for fertilization and maintenance of a healthy pregnancy.