One of the major reasons why people marry is to have children, but according to a World Health Organisation statistics, one in four married women in most developing countries are childless because of primary or secondary infertility; while research also shows that male factors account for between 20 and 30 per cent of infertility. As technology advances, however, fertility experts say detoxification programme can make couples fertile. SOLAADE AYO-ADERELE reports

For 17 years, Mr. And Mrs. Olayiwola waited for a child but none came. Mid last year, they were introduced to a fertility expert who took them through a simple process of detoxification programme that included weight reduction and general system cleansing.

In less than 12 months of accessing treatment which was followed by in-vitro fertilisation, they achieved the hitherto elusive pregnancy and had a set of quadruplets early February.

Detoxification is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including, but not limited to, the human body.

A professor of reproductive endocrinology, Oladapo Ashiru, has decried the rising rate of infertility among couples, based on the number of people seeking medical assistance to conceive.

Ashiru, who heads the Medical Assisted Reproductive Technology Centre, a fertility clinic based in Maryland, Lagos, said one in every six couples has difficulty in conceiving, underscoring the need to seek medical advice.

Studies have shown that male factors account for between 20 and 30 per cent of infertility; 40-50 per cent with the woman, while between 30 and 40 per cent are due to problems in both man and woman.

Experts say conception and pregnancy are complicated processes that comprise the production of healthy sperm by the man, healthy eggs from the woman, unblocked fallopian tubes that allow the sperm to reach the egg, and the ability of the fertilised egg to implant in the uterus and grow in a good environmental and hormonal condition.

“If one of the processes is impaired, infertility can be the result,” Ashiru says.

He explains that infertility is sometimes as a result of toxins in the body, which might have been accumulated over a long period of time.

“It is known that some undigested food products can remain in the intestine for up to 200 hours — instead of the normal 18 hours — and produce toxins that are stored in the body for months or years. This causes certain types of infertility,” Ashiru explains.

He notes that in the female, the causes of such infertility include obesity (associated with polycystic ovarian syndrome and endocrine disorders), increased maternal age, hormonal imbalance, stress, infections, toxins from the environment and improper nutrition.

Male factors are said to be due to deficiencies in semen and semen quality, erectile dysfunction and genetic factors which are as a result of environmental toxins, as well as toxins produced from diet, which leads to hormonal imbalance and infertility.

“The accumulation of these toxins from the environment will begin to manifest by the time a man reaches age 40-55 years. At this time, men experience an ageing phenomenon similar to the female menopause called andropause. This is as a result of gradual decline in the level of testosterone,” the professor explains.

According to him, this decline has effects on bodily functions, such as mood swings, depression, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, hair loss, hot flushes, irritable men syndrome, urinary problems and weight gain.

“These conditions may occur faster as a result of exposure to environmental toxins, psychological stress, obesity, and infection,” he says.

Andropausal symptoms and effects can be reduced by regular general detoxification treatment, body cleansing and in some cases, bio-identical hormone therapy, experts say.

According to the American Fertility Association, recent studies suggest that toxins in the environment are not only damaging the reproductive capacities of men and women, exposure to ubiquitous dioxins such as cigarette smoke, lead and mercury, and some agricultural pesticides are known to be direct threats to a couple’s ability to conceive or achieve a healthy pregnancy.

The association avers that troubling new research suggests that a broader range of chemicals — including many that are associated with everyday products such as household cleansers, personal care and beauty aids, and even plastic water bottles — could have a much more complex and far-reaching impact on men and women’s fertility.

“With the advent of the chemical and synthetic toxins such as pesticides and herbicides, plastics and cleaners, pharmaceuticals, and vaccinations, food additives, and food contaminants, fuel emissions, insecticides, and fungicides, comes a constant onslaught of chemical toxins that our bodies are just not equipped to deal with.

“In relation to fertility, this has huge implications, as the synthetic chemicals modify the hormones that control the reproductive system, and can alter the sex hormone levels. This is a very intricate, finely balanced system that involves a multitude of different hormonal transactions to occur simultaneously. As soon as anything interferes, as we are finding out, the whole system can be affected,” AFA says.

AFA argues that one of the effects of toxic overload is that females become more masculine and males become more feminised. “The toxins enter the sperm and eggs, and effectively poison them, so that if there is fertilisation, there is an increased risk of miscarriage,” it says.

Indeed, in late February 2005, at the Vallombrosa Retreat Centre in California, the Fertility/Early Pregnancy Compromise Work Group of the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and the Stanford University School of Medicine’s Women’s Health hosted a seminar titled, Understanding environmental contaminants and human fertility compromise: science and strategy.

Here, the experts argue that every day, we are continually exposed to toxins from our environment, preservatives in food, drugs, cosmetics, stress, poor eating habits and lifestyle which result in premature ageing, allergies, food intolerance, cancer, hormonal imbalance, obesity and infertility.

Ashiru notes that over time, these toxins accumulate in the major organs and tissues; and if not eliminated or neutralised, will lead to auto-intoxification and organ damage. “This is why total body cleansing — that is detoxification — is important; it helps to remove all these toxins,” he says.

A number of fertility centres are now incorporating detoxification cleansing programme as a diagnostic and therapeutic measure in the management of infertility as a new trend in assisted reproduction. There are a few of these clinics all over the world — one in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Austria.

Currently, Nigeria hosts one of such clinics, the MART-Life Detox Clinic, which is a subsidiary of the MART Clinic, headed by Ashiru.

“The detox centre is in collaboration with Viva-Mayr Health Resort in Austria, which was established in line with the modern Mayr Medicine Therapy — a medical therapy programme that has been in existence for over 100 years,” Ashiru says.

He explains that the treatment is a combination of different holistic health concepts whose objective is to rejuvenate the body functioning system and dynamics to its maximum efficiency, with the overall aim of achieving a healthy life style, younger look and increased life span.

“The detoxification programme also has the advantage of weight loss, improved medical conditions and enhanced fertility,” Ashiru intones.

An accomplished clinician and author, Dr. Jesse Hanley, says one of the definitions of aging is based on how quickly the body repairs itself; implying that detoxification can significantly increase the chances of fertility in women by improving the circulation of blood to the ovaries, uterus, hypothalamus and the pituitary.

Ashiru says detoxification optimises liver function to remove and prevent excess accumulation of unwanted hormones, among others.

Scientific studies suggest that detoxification programmes normalise the hormone and endocrine system that regulate ovulation, especially if polycystic ovarian syndrome (an abnormality of unknown origin whereby the ovary produces cysts instead of follicles that produce eggs) is an issue.

Again, Ashiru says, “It positively affects the hypothalamic pituitary ovarian axis that plays a key role in fertility, regulates menstrual cycle, increases blood flow to the uterus to improve the chances of embryo implantation and also reduces anxiety and stress that may significantly decrease fertility.”

Hanley suggests that it helps to remove heavy metal deposits from the uterus, fallopian tubes and other reproductive organs.

Ashiru says fertility cleansing is not just for women, but also for men, as sperm quality can be affected by toxicity as well.

“Recent studies are now pointing at hormonal imbalance and environmental factors leading to low sperm count (oligospermia), absence of sperm cells (azospermia) and erectile dysfunction,” Ashiru warns; saying that male infertility can be improved by total body detoxification through weight reduction, body cleansing, and healthy eating habits.

Enumerating the success stories from detoxification program, Ashiru says these include the reduction in the dosages of blood pressure and diabetic medications, in addition to enhanced fertility among relevant patients.