Weight loss before fertility treatment may not increase births for obese
women

Date:
January 18, 2022
Source:
Penn State
Summary:
Health care professionals often encourage women with obesity to
lose weight prior to trying to conceive or start infertility
treatments. But a new nationwide study found that women with
obesity and unexplained infertility who lost weight prior to
starting infertility treatments did not have a greater chance of
having a healthy baby than those who did not lose weight prior to
starting therapy.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Health care professionals often encourage women with obesity to lose
weight prior to trying to conceive or start infertility treatments. But
a new nationwide study led by Penn State College of Medicine found that
women with obesity and unexplained infertility who lost weight prior to starting infertility treatments did not have a greater chance of having a healthy baby than those who did not lose weight prior to starting therapy.


========================================================================== Forty percent of U.S. women between the ages of 20 and 40 are estimated
to have obesity, which has been associated with trouble getting pregnant, pregnancy complications and loss. As a result, it is common for those
women to receive guidance to lose weight prior to conception to increase
their chances of having a healthy baby.

Dr. Richard Legro, professor and chair of the Department of Obstetrics
and Gynecology at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center,
led a multi- center National Institutes of Health?sponsored study of
more than 300 women with obesity and unexplained infertility to evaluate whether targeted weight loss prior to fertility treatments could increase
their likelihood of delivering a healthy baby. Participants had to have a
body mass index greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2 with regular ovulation
and at least one year of unexplained infertility. Women with anovulation,
where an egg doesn't release from the ovary during the menstrual cycle,
and polycystic ovary syndrome, where women often experience infrequent
or abnormal menstrual cycles as a result of hormone imbalance in the
ovaries, were not eligible to participate in the study.

Participants were divided into two groups. One group followed a protocol
of increased physical activity and targeted weight loss through meal replacements and medication, while members of the other group increased
their physical activity without guided weight loss. The women completed
these programs for a period of 16 weeks before beginning three cycles of infertility therapy that consisted of ovarian stimulation and intrauterine insemination.

At the end of the study period, the researchers noticed no significant differences in the amount of pregnancies and healthy births between the
two groups. Members of the guided weight loss group lost an average of
7% of their body weight, while the other participants experienced no significant weight loss. The results were published in PLOS Medicine on
Jan. 18.

According to Legro, the results add to a growing body of evidence that
healthy births are not more likely to occur in women with obesity who
lose weight prior to starting infertility treatment than those who have
not lost weight prior to conception.

"Although it differs from current clinical standards of care, there's
just not enough evidence to recommend preconception weight loss in women
with obesity and unexplained infertility," Legro said.

While it may not increase a woman with obesity's chances of delivering
a healthy baby, the researchers noted there may be other health benefits
for these women if they lose weight. Some of the women in the weight loss
group had decreased blood pressure and a reduction in waist circumference.

Karl Hansen and Robert Wild of University of Oklahoma Health Sciences
Center; Michael Diamond of Augusta University; Anne Steiner and
Jennifer Mersereau of University of North Caroline, Chapel Hill;
Christos Coutifaris and Kurt Barnhart of University of Pennsylvania;
Marcelle Cedars of University of California at San Francisco; Kathleen
Hoeger of University of Rochester; Rebecca Usadi of Atrium Health;
Erica Johnstone of University of Utah; Daniel Haisenleder of University
of Virginia Center for Research in Reproduction; J.C.

Trussell of SUNY Upstate University Hospital; Stephen Krawetz of Wayne
State University; Penny Kris-Etherton of Penn State College of Health
and Human Development; David Sarwer of Temple University; Nanette Santoro
of University of Colorado School of Medicine; Esther Eisenberg of Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development;
and Hao Huang and Heping Zhang of Yale University also contributed to
this research. Competing interests from authors can be viewed in the manuscript.

This research was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (grant numbers U10HD38992, U10HD077680, U10HD39005, U10HD077844, U10HD055925, U10HD27049, U54-HD29834
and R24- HD102061). This project was also supported by Penn State Clinical
and Translational Science Institute and the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation through the National Center for Advancing Translational
Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (grant numbers UL1 TR002014
and UL1 TR001863).

Nutrisystem and Fitbit also provided discounts for study materials.

special promotion Get a free digital "Metabolism Myths"
issue of New Scientist and discover the 7 things we always
get wrong about diet and exercise. Claim_yours_now_>>> landing.newscientist.com/what-is-new-scientist-sd/ ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Penn_State. Original written by
Zachary Sweger. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Richard S. Legro, Karl R. Hansen, Michael P. Diamond, Anne
Z. Steiner,
Christos Coutifaris, Marcelle I. Cedars, Kathleen M. Hoeger, Rebecca
Usadi, Erica B. Johnstone, Daniel J. Haisenleder, Robert A. Wild,
Kurt T.

Barnhart, Jennifer Mersereau, J. C. Trussell, Stephen A. Krawetz,
Penny M. Kris-Etherton, David B. Sarwer, Nanette Santoro, Esther
Eisenberg, Hao Huang, Heping Zhang. Effects of preconception
lifestyle intervention in infertile women with obesity: The
FIT-PLESE randomized controlled trial.

PLOS Medicine, 2022; 19 (1): e1003883 DOI:
10.1371/journal.pmed.1003883 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220118145628.htm

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