We've been seeing a lot of patients in the office recently on some kind of nutritional supplements, mostly to improve fertility, but some being taken (by men) as part of a regimen to increase strength or muscle-building. I think taking such supplements is unwise. Here's why:
Body-building supplements for men - Several of our patients with really low sperm counts (or even no sperm) admit to being on these supplements. Sometimes the guys say they are just using a "protein supplement" from the health food store; others admit they are getting something from a friend at the gym. We don't know just what's in these supplements, but some of them probably contain testosterone derivatives, which are well known to reduce sperm production. The good news is that sperm production usually comes back when the supplements are stopped, but it can take several months.
Fertility supplements for men and women - In my opinion, the use of nutritional supplements to improve fertility is mostly bogus. Nutritional supplement manufacturers are exempt from the rigorous regulations of pharmaceutical manufacturers. If you label your product as a nutritional supplement, you can pretty much make any claim about it you like. The "scientific proof" they hold up is nonexistent or quite flimsy. Although some fertility clinics recommend these products, in my opinion, they are a waste of money.
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3 comments:
My RE highly recommends Ferti.ity B.lend for my husband's low morphology. After comparing it to his (over-priced but bought on sale) GNC multi-vitamin, I noticed the multi is better and has more. Why is Fer.tilit.y B.lend so highly touted?
If you look hard enough, you can find some data about beneficial effects of clomiphene, tamoxifen, zinc, folic acid, vitamin E, L-carnitine, and various other drugs or nutritional supplements for the treatment of idiopathic male infertility. Most of the studies are small, looking at sperm parameters rather than pregnancy rates, and the results are not consistent. L-carnitine (an antioxidant) seems to be the latest miracle cure for male infertility.
A few points about this issue: (1) There was a lot of discussion and favorable preclinical data about antioxidants to prevent cancer and other diseases, and many people were taking vitamin C or E because of this. However, when the clinical trials were done, the results were disappointing. Only 6 of the 10 studies of antioxidant treatment of male infertility in which pregnancy rates were examined have shown any benefit (see Ross C et al. Reprod Biomed Online 2010 for a recent review of this issue)(2) If you take a group of men who have a low sperm count and repeat the analysis some time later, the counts will be higher, even in the absence of any treatment. This is called "regression to the mean". Studies of male fertility that don't include a placebo are probably showing results because of this (see, for example Costa M et al., Andrologia 1994)(3) Doctors like to recommend treatments, even if the data supporting them are sparse. I have a friend in the business who is quite frank in admitting he is willing to recommend just about anything to improve fertility if there is the least bit of data suggesting some benefit. I tend to be a bit more conservative.
However, to the best of my knowledge, no one has shown decreased fertility with nutritional supplements. If you want, go buy some cheap l-carnitine (most of the studies tested 2 grams daily) and take it with an inexpensive multivitamin.
MPS
Dr. Steinkam and his staff are absolutely wonderful. They helped us make our dream a reality and we now have a wonderful little boy.
After the birth of my daughter i had my tubes tied in 1999. My husband and i decided we wanted to have a child so we went to Dr. Steinkampf and his wonderful staff to help us in doing so and through their assistance, patience and kindness we went through IVF and were able to get pregnant the first time and our son was born October 29, 2010.
Thank you for all you guys did and do and for being so sweet and wonderful!!!
George & Christy Jackson-Kowatch
Anniston, AL
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