Fertility

Could Ureaplasma Be Affecting Your Fertility or Urinary Symptoms?

Could Ureaplasma Be Affecting Your Fertility or Urinary Symptoms?

If you’ve been dealing with recurrent urinary symptoms, vaginal irritation, or unexplained fertility challenges, you may have heard of Ureaplasma—or maybe you’ve never heard of it at all. Ureaplasma is a very small type of bacteria that can live in the urinary and reproductive tracts. It’s actually fairly common, and plenty of people carry it without ever having symptoms. So, a positive test doesn’t necessarily mean Ureaplasma is causing a problem or needs to be treated. But in certain patients, I do think it can be worth looking for.

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Anti-Ovary Antibodies (AOA): A Functional Medicine Perspective

Anti-Ovary Antibodies (AOA): A Functional Medicine Perspective

Anti-ovary antibodies (AOAs) are autoantibodies directed against proteins within the ovary. Their presence may suggest that the immune system is recognizing ovarian tissue as a target. Although testing is not part of the standard infertility evaluation and the assays have not yet been standardized, ovarian autoimmunity is increasingly recognized as a potential contributor in a subset of women with reproductive challenges. In Functional Medicine, we view anti-ovary antibodies as one piece of a larger immune assessment, rather than a stand-alone diagnostic test.

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Thoughts about fertility preparation

Thoughts about fertility preparation

At Tendwell, we use cutting edge science and take an integrative medicine or functional medicine approach to health. When I work with clients desiring fertility, I tend to look at a lot of labwork in the beginning. Some of my favorites being: CBC w/diff, CMP, vitamin D, vitamin B12, homocysteine, MTHFR, CoQ10, Omega 3/6 levels, iron, ferritin, fasting blood sugar, hemoglobin A1C, and a full thyroid panel. We also get very specific hormone testing: day 3: estrogen, FSH, LH, testosterone, prolactin, DHEA-S, SHBG, AMH and day 21: progesterone levels.

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