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Can H pylori affect sperm, fertility and pregnancy?

Posted by on Apr 10, 2016 in Heartburn | 2 comments

You’ve got to be kidding, right?

H pylori – a stomach infection – and fertility?

Give me a break!

Well, it’s true – the scientific literature does show associations between H pylori, fertility and pregnancy.

And this once again shows how your gut is intimately tied up with EVERY function in your body, and why it’s so important to get your entire gut health optimised, no matter what your doctor might tell you.

H pylori and sperm health

Remember in earlier videos when I told you it’s important to know which H pylori strain you have?

Well some studies show that the CagA H pylori strain reduces sperm health compared to non-CagA H pylori.

Here’s what Moretti et al said in a 2015 study:

“CagA+ H pylori infection increases semen levels of inflammatory cytokines, which may reduce sperm motility and determine sperm damage and contribute to reduce the reproductive potential in men.” 1

It’s also been demonstrated that H pylori eradication improves sperm motility:

“H pylori treatment significantly improves sperm motility in infertile asthenozoospermic men with elevated seminal H pylori IgA.” 2

I have a saying when I’m working with clients that ‘stress beats sex every time’.

Anything that causes inflammation in your gut is seen as ‘stress’ by your body, and H pylori (plus Candida, parasites and so on) is no exception.

When your gut is damaged, any number of functions in your body can be affected – mood, energy, pain, skin, reproduction, and so on.

H pylori and morning sickness in pregnant ladies

The World Journal of Gastroenterology published a review paper in 2014 showing how H pylori affects pregnancy. 3

They showed that:

  • H pylori may be involved in maternal anemia (by reducing iron and B12 absorption)
  • H pylori may play a role in causing neural tube defects (my hypothesis is that H pylori affects methylation cycles by reducing B12 and folate absorption)
  • H pylori may cause fetal growth restriction
  • H pylori may induce pre-eclampsia
  • H pylori increases morning sickness
  • H pylori may even contribute to miscarriages (and maybe even an inability to fall pregnant)

I don’t share this info to frighten you, but I do recommend that you get your gut health and nutrition status optimised if you’re planning a family, or if you’re having difficulty falling pregnant.

Here’s a diagram of how it might all play out:

Hpylori_pregnancy

Here’s what the researchers said:

“Since H pylori infection is most likely acquired before pregnancy, it is believed that hormonal and immunological changes occurring during pregnancy can activate latent H pylori infection and this could have an impact not only on the mother health (nutritional deficiency, organ injury, death), but also on her child (insufficient growth, malformation, death) and sometime consequences can be observed later in life.”

Can we help?

We’ve worked with quite a few people who were having difficulty with sex drive, menstrual and fertility issues.

In each case the gut was causing a domino effect on the rest of the body that expressed itself as sexual and reproductive issues.

I personally had very low testosterone levels until I got rid of H pylori and fixed my gut.

I can tell you it’s NOT just about H pylori – it’s about gluten, other inflammatory foods, parasites, Candida, leaky gut, SIBO and the rest, too.

So if you’d like someone to lend an ear and help you out, just let us know.

My strong advice would be to get a consultation booked, or get your gut properly assessed with a stool test.

Learn more about them here:

Arrange a consult

Get a stool test

Don’t forget, if you drop us an email we’ll get back to you in 24 hours or next working day.

All my best,

Dave.

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