Archive for December, 2009
Lower Birth Rates – The Real Consequence of Pollution
Can pollution really affect fertility this much? That seems to be the question people are asking at the small island village of Bahraini, located in the Persian Gulf.
In the past two decades their environment has been subjected to major upheavals caused, in large part, by the Gulf War in the early 1990′s.
Directly due to the Gulf War, the sea and land surrounding the area were badly contaminated. First, the military forces of Iraq, stationed in Kuwait opened the valves at the Sea Island oil terminal near Kuwait City and released large quantities of crude oil into the Gulf, polluting the waters. In addition, the many uranium-enriched bombs dropped by U.S. contaminated both the surrounding waters and land.
Today, almost 20 years later, it appears that Bahraini men in their early twenties, and attempting to start families are, all of a sudden, experiencing conception problems.
And now, Dr. Isa Amin, a Bahraini urologist, has come forward with data showing that the number of his male patients who are experiencing infertility has risen dramatically. From the average of two cases per month a decade ago, he is now seeing an average of 11 per month.
While it’s certainly true that some of the occurrences could be caused by common culprits such as heredity, drugs, or accidents – with such a major change in the environment, it’s not a huge leap to suspect it of being the main culprit.
The doctor’s suspicions were first aroused when he observed an unusually large percentage of his male patients showing zero percent semen after being tested. It’s now recognized in the scientific community that exposure to certain chemicals that are present in the home, diet, and general environment can affect the fertility of a person.
Unfortunately, the people in this small area don’t have many real options. It’s extremely difficult to purify Uranium contaminated water on this scale. And even though, based on his patient’s results, Dr. Amin is requesting that more research be done into examining the effects of environmental pollution on fertility rates in his community. But, it’s unlikely that enough could be done to affect the welfare of the patients currently under his care.
For further discussion and articles regarding ivf message boards, acupuncture and infertility, and determining the cost of ivf.
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