Overweight, smoking, alcohol, drugs, caffeine, stress are shown to be related to infertility. While lifestyle factors alone do not entirely explain or account every case of infertility, they are significant nevertheless. Stress reduction for instance has been shown to relate to normalized levels of GnRh, FSH, LH, estrogen and progesterone, blood pressure and improved pregnancy rates. Overweight and related increased levels are associated with increased testosterone and lack of ovulation. Also the elevated levels of insulin and leptin associated with overweight lead to increase in LH but no increase in FSH . This and elevated androgens will stimulate unripe follicles that fail to ovulate. Positive changes in lifestyle factors are proven to improve fertility.
