At minute 13:15, the show Q on CBC on January the 6th, 2012. http://www.cbc.ca/q/episodes/

A summary article that talks about the research on fleece http://www.grist.org/living/2011-12-07-how-microplastics-cause-macro-problems-for-the-ocean

Vitamins that can enhance fertility:

Methylcobolamin: Vitamin B12 injections are very powerful in fertility. B12 is helpful in breaking down bad estrogen and optimizes hormone regulation.

Vitamin C: 42 women who had failed to ovulate after treatment with clomiphene were given 400 mg/day of Vitamin C, either alone or in combination with clomiphene. Combination therapy induced ovulation in more than 50% of the women and, in a few cases, Vitamin C alone induced ovulation.

Vitamin B6: 14 women who had been infertile for 1.5 to 7 years were given 100 to 800 mg/day of Vitamin B6 as treatment for PMS. 11 of these women became pregnant during the first 6 months of Vitamin B6 therapy. Whether or not Vitamin B6 can help infertile women who do not suffer from PMS has not been investigated

Iron: Some 111 women with iron deficiency were treated with iron plus Vitamin C (to enhance the absorption of iron). 7 previously infertile women conceived within 28 weeks of starting this therapy. Do not supplement iron without confirming using a blood test.

Zinc: A deficiency is associated with problems such as impaired synthesis/secretion of FSH and LH, abnormal ovarian development, disruption of the estrous cycle, frequent abortion, a prolonged gestation period, teratogenecity, stillbirths, difficulty in parturition, pre-eclampsia, toxemia, and low birth weight infants.

Essential Fatty Acids: A possible cause of infertility is the thickening of the cervical mucous, or the spermicidal action of some vaginal secretions; an EFA deficiency may interfere with normal secretions.

For example, my severe teenage acne, was a huge clue that I would struggle with getting pregnant. After seeing huge changes in my health with alternative treatments, I was committed to becoming a Naturopathic Doctor and wanted to open a multi-disciplinary wellness clinic.  I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Guelph getting my degree in Biomedical Toxicology.  My degree in Biomedical Toxicology gave me the necessary background to specilize in women’s health and fertility because of the intricate knowledge of biochemical pathways that govern hormone regulation.  I then spent 4 years in a full time naturopathic program at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto. 

My dream of being the chief medical officer of a multi-discipliary wellness clinic came true in 2005 and life was very much the way I imagined it until one horrible day my wonderful gastroenterologist found a carcinoma tumour in my bowel.  My father passed away from colon cancer at age 53 and this was a HUGE wake-up call to dramatically reduce inflammatory foods in my diet and begin to exercise more.  Running a health clinic became my priority and I had slipped off the wellness path which is so easy to do in this stressed out busy world.
 
Reinvigorated I spent the next year planning my wedding and thinking about babies.  My first year of marriage was much like many couples stuggling with infertility.  Stressful and scary.  After months and months of not being able to concieve, I went to my MD and was diagnosed with endometriosis.  Instead of trusting where my health journey had taken me, I panicked.  I was scared that I would never get pregnant.  It took me 3 months to even tell my husband and family about the diagnosis.  I really was paralyzed with fear.  Then slowly, through conversations with some other wonderful natural health practitioners, I started to put my faith back into Naturopathic Medicine.

I pulled out dairy, 100%, and discovered for me, the devil was in the milk as the courageous author Keith Woodford proposes in his book, The Devil in the Milk.  It took 6 months of dairy free, with an intense natural “clean-up” of my hormone mess and detoxification pathway impairments, but I was able to get pregnant with my beautiful baby girl Katya Ellen.  It is important to me to share this story, even the tough parts, because even if natural fertility plans don’t help everyone, I believe they have the ability to help the majority of couples dramatically improve their ability to conceive.

In Canada, it is estimated that 7-9% of people are infertile. About one third of infertility cases are due to male factors, one third are due to female factors, and the remainder are caused by a combination of male and female factors. In females, problems with ovulation are the most common causes of infertility. Other causes of infertility include: blocked fallopian tubes resulting from pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) or endometriosis; surgery from ectopic pregnancy, uterine fibroids; and problems with the uterus. Factors that increase women’s risk of infertility include: age, stress, poor diet, athletic training, being overweight or underweight, tobacco smoking, alcohol, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), hormonal problems, and age.

 
I have been either going to see a Naturopathic Doctor or using natural therapies for over 20 years….I started really young.  I truly believe all my work has lead me to have less health issues and to be able to tackle the big ones that I have run into.  I’m pretty sure I am one of those women who would have been incredibly sick in their 20′s and just gotten worse as I aged. I believe whole heartedly that I would not be a mother if it had not been for the lessons I learned about health and wellness along the way, with a  healthy dose of environmental toxicity and detoxification pathway knowledge attained in university. 

The problem with preventative medicine is that you never know what would have happened had you not taken action.  It also leads us to believe that there is nothing we can do about sperm count, PCOS, endometrious etc.  I hope the information in this website will start you thinking about what you can do to change and improve both your health and fertility.

Thanks for reading!

Carissa Doherty Naturopathic Doctor

Natural Care Clinic

www.naturalcareclinic.ca