Is Your Job Hazardous to Your Fertility?

A stressful job can be hazardous to your health. It can boost your blood pressure, disrupt your sleep and take a toll on your relationships. But a recent study reported in the Times of London suggests another surprising hazard: Work stress can take a toll on a woman’s fertility.

Professor Elizabeth Cashdan, an anthropologist at the University of Utah, studied the waist-to-hip ratios of women from 33 non-Western populations and four European populations. Past studies have shown that a curvy silhouette—where the hips are 30 percent or more larger in circumference than the waist—is associated with improved fertility.

Cashdan’s research, published in a recent issue of the journal Current Anthropology, found that the Marilyn Monroe–type figure is less often found in women with demanding careers. Those women displayed more boyish figures, which are negatively correlated to fertility.

Cashdan told the Times that work stress and the drive for career success can bring about a shift in hormones where estrogen—the female hormone—is replaced by androgens including testosterone, which are associated with strength, stamina and competitiveness. Higher androgen levels are associated with more masculine figures and lower fertility. In fact, the Times reports, one study from 2004 suggested that women with hourglass figures had levels of the reproductive hormone, estradiol, that were 30 percent higher than those found in women with less curvy figures. They were also three times more likely to get pregnant.

The androgens that can make a woman a powerhouse at the office also can cause fat to settle around the waistline, which can trigger a further drop in estrogen levels. Plus, research conducted at Emory University's School of Medicine in Atlanta has shown how stress can result in reduced levels of two hormones that are essential for ovulation. Women with stressful jobs and demanding personal lives are most at risk.

Evidence does suggest that stress reducing measures can pay off for working women who are interested in protecting their fertility. Exercising, eating well, and making time for friends and family are all good ways to bring more balance to a hectic life.

Article from health.msn.com/blogs/daily-dose-post.aspx?post=1056250