12/16/2018 / By RJ Jhonson
For couples who cannot have children, fertility treatments could be heaven-sent. But according to a study by American and Swedish researchers, the said treatments may not be as seamless as they are made out to be, with progesterone hormone therapy, in particular, causing a rise in children who have autism.
The researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital in the U.S. and Karolinska Institute in Sweden conducted a study involving 1,08,548 boys. This focus on boys was because they were more likely than girls to develop autism.
The researchers found that couples who undergo progesterone hormone therapy have 1.5 times higher odds of having a child with autism compared to couples who did not go through fertility treatments.
Progesterone hormone therapy involves supplementation with progesterone, also known as the pregnancy hormone. It is one of two hormones mainly produced in the female body, the other being estrogen. Progesterone prepares the woman for the process of carrying and giving birth to a child.
In progesterone hormone therapy, women are given supplements of this hormone to stimulate their reproductive process. The hormone supplement is administered throughout the pregnancy. Women have several options, including gels, suppositories, and vaginal inserts, among others. (Related: Hormone therapy linked to breast cancer risk.)
While the idea of using a hormone that naturally exists within the female body may seem like an ideal solution to infertility, it may not be safe and practical in the long run. The researchers hypothesize that the effect has something to do with progesterone’s other function – stimulating brain development. They believe that using the hormone leads to a cascade of factors that eventually cause autism in the infant.
Couples who want to conceive a child may not have to turn to potentially risky treatments for aid. Here are natural ways to boost your fertility:
Learn how to treat infertility naturally at Remedies.news.
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Tagged Under: autism, autism risk, bad drug, bad medicine, Fertility, fertility treatment, harmful medicine, Hormone therapy, hormone treatment, Infertility, pregnancy, progesterone, progesterone hormone therapy, progesterone therapy