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By Caroline Penn, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Those years you spent vigorously exercising may be great for your body -- but not if you are trying to get pregnant through in vitro fertilization. But don't cancel your gym membership just yet!
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Women who exercise for four or more hours every week may be doing themselves more harm than good, if they are plan on one day trying to get pregnant with IVF. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston have researched the various outcomes of more than 2,200 women who had their first IVF cycle between 1994 and 2003. Research was based on what women have done over their lifetime before the IVF cycle.
Intense cardiovascular exercise -- four or more hours per week -- such as running, bicycling or stair climbing prevented and protected the body from a pregnancy it can't sustain during such an active lifestyle.
Women who exercised intensely anywhere from one to nine years before starting IVF, had a 50-percent-less chance of a live birth as opposed to women who did not exercise at all. Researchers base these findings on body mass index (BMI) and body fat but also the hormonal changes that result from intense exercise.
However, being overweight can cause as many problems for pregnancy as being underweight. Stephanie Morris, M.D., associate medical director at Newton Wellesley Hospital and lead author of the study, stresses that women should not stop exercising as a result of these findings.
Regular exercise did not seem to decrease or increase the chances of having a baby. About 30 minutes of exercise a day is what doctors recommend as a safe guideline, revealing the fine line between too much and too little exercise when facing infertility treatments.
"Exercise plays on both ends of the spectrum; it can impair fertility or it can improve fertility, depending on where you are starting [in terms of weight]," Dr. Morris told Ivanhoe. More research is still needed to determine the effects of exercise during the IVF cycle.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Stephanie Morris, M.D., Associate Medical Director of minimally invasive gynecologic surgery center at Newton Wellsley Hospital, Medical instructor at Harvard Medical School, and lead author of study, Obstetrics & Gynecology, October 2006
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