Interactive Session - Environment and Reproduction Special Interest Group - Environmental Toxins

Date:October 22, 2012

Time:1:15 pm - 2:15 pm

Location:Room 3 - San Diego Convention Center

Presenters

Victor Y. Fujimoto, M.D. (Chair), University of California San Francsico School of Medicine

Kevin G. Osteen, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University

Kaylon L. Bruner-Tran, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Environmental Toxins

Needs Assessment and Description
Ideally, treatment of infertility should not begin when a couple enters the realm of reproductive endocrinology and infertility care, but rather support and maintenance of optimum fertility requires a proactive approach prior to the active pursuit of pregnancy. This live session for clinicians and healthcare professionals interested in environmental effects on infertility will cover the interactive roles of nutrition and environmental exposures that can influence an individual’s or couple’s fertility status, including their risk for infertility. We will additionally describe concrete steps that patients and their physicians can take to protect and improve fertility potential.

Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this session, participants should be able to: 

  1. Give specific examples of environmental toxicants with known human reproductive toxicity, including their routes of exposure. 
  2. Describe the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis and its potential relevance to human reproduction. 
  3. Describe the influence, both positive and negative, of diet on the reproductive consequences of toxicant exposures.

ACGME Competency
Patient Care

TEST QUESTION:
A 35-year-old gravida 2, para 0, spontaneous miscarriage 2, woman with infertility of 2-years’ duration presents for consultation with normal hysterosalpingogram findings, normal semen parameters, and normal ovarian reserve (basal FSH= 5.5 IU/L and E2 = 35 pg/mL). She reports a history of cigarette smoking, drinks 7 glasses of wine per week and drinks 2 cups of coffee per day. She works in the high tech industry in a plant that produces computer parts. She has had 2 early first trimester miscarriages and now is seeking assistance for her infertility condition with her male partner who also works in the computer industry at the same company. Her busy work schedule forces her to eat on the run and she uses a lot of processed foods at home for convenience. She has attempted 4 cycles of intrauterine insemination therapy followed by 2 cycles of in vitro fertilization but has not been able to conceive. After participating in this session, in my practice I will identify the risk factor(s) most likely contributing to her problems getting pregnant as: 

  1. Her coffee and alcohol consumption 
  2. The couple’s reliance on convenience foods 
  3. Her previous miscarriage history 
  4. The couple’s work in the high tech industry 
  5. The couple’s diet and exposure history 
  6. Not applicable to my area of practice

ASRM MEMBERSHIP

View Details
Learn More | Join | Renew
Back to Top