Toxins and Reproduction

What an honor to be on one of my favorite podcasts with my dear friend and mentor, Dr. Natalie Crawford, discussing a topic I am passionate about: Toxins and Reproduction. Here’s Dr. Crawford’s description of our interview:

“This week the #asawoman podcast has special guest @drlorashahine as we talk about environmental toxins and your fertility. This was the MOST impactful talk at @mrsi_meeting and after it 90% of physicians said they would start to counsel patients different about their environment. I really enjoyed the story of how BPA was found to be harmful to ovarian reserve (the number of eggs you have left), and the truth is - it was on accident. In Dr. Patricia Hunt’s lab at Case Western she was evaluating mice, there was a sudden and significant (40%) decrease in ovarian reserve. After a very complete evaluation, it was found that new water bottles now contained BPA. She hypothesized that the BPA was leaching into the water and impacting the ovarian reserve of these mice and after controlled dose-dependent experiments she proved this. (As an aside, too many timelines about BPA discovery leave Dr. Hunt out of this important story. I love how Lora amplifies women and always includes mention of Dr. Hunt and her important role in our knowledge of BPA and fertility). And in fact, human studies have confirmed a trend with a decrease in the number of antral follicles and ovarian reserve measurements in infertile women with highest versus lowest level of BPA exposure [Souter Reprod Toxic 2013]. Listen to learn more, but you should be inspired to take charge of your fertility and your overall health. If this is what environmental toxins such as BPA can do to your ovaries, imagine what it does to other parts of your body. Make an effort to understand that the things you do and what you exposure yourself to has a real impact on your body, your health, and your fertility.”