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Female infertility: The pH factor – role of acidity/alkalinity

By Paul Joseph Nanna
21 July 2016   |   1:53 am
The pH factor that is the acidity or alkalinity of the body fluids play very significant roles in the production of hormones in both males and females. Hormonal imbalance...
Female infertility

Female infertility

The pH factor that is the acidity or alkalinity of the body fluids play very significant roles in the production of hormones in both males and females. Hormonal imbalance, inadequate sperm cells and malformed eggs are all traceable to the acidity that is prevalent in our body fluids today.

So that you will understand what I am about to discuss, I will like to shed more light on what the letters pH stand for. The letter p stands for potential while H represents hydrogen and both together mean the readiness of a substance or fluid to release hydrogen atoms. The more readily a fluid is to release hydrogen atoms, the lower the pH and the more acidic the fluid would be. A fluid that does not readily release hydrogen atoms or does not release at all has a high pH. Such a fluid is said to be alkaline.

The pH is measured by a pH scale, which is numbered from 0 to 14. From 0 to 6.9 is acidic and from 7.1 to 14 is alkaline; 7.0 is neutral. There are pH test kits that can easily be used to test the pH of body fluids such as the sputum, urine, vagina etc. Not only are there test kits; there are also strips that can be dipped into these body parts and fluids to test the pH.

The human body, is generally made alkaline by the Creator. Two regions of the body that are normally acidic are the stomach and the vagina and it is the latter that we are interested in concerning today’s discussion.

Things that affect the pH of the body fluids – the vagina and the cervix
The vaginal fluid and cervical mucus are usually acidic for most of the menstrual period. However, during ovulation there is a hormone known as luteinizing hormone, whose secretion increases greatly. This increase is known as the luteinizing hormone surge. One of its functions is to change the pH of the vaginal fluid and cervical mucus to alkaline. An alkaline environment is friendly to the sperms while an acidic one will destroy the sperm cells.

Factors, which can affect the pH of the vaginal/cervical mucus, include age, dehydration, diet, obesity, stress, drugs, hormonal levels, lubricants and spermicidal creams. If the luteinizing hormone surge is unable to make the reproductive area alkaline and in the midst of the above factors, the vagina will remain acidic and the sperms cells will be destroyed. This is a cause of infertility that has been overlooked all these years, but hopefully attention is being paid to it now, more than before.

The effect of the pH of the semen is closely related to that of the vaginal fluid. The semen is the slimy colourless fluid produced by the prostate gland in which the sperm cells swim. It is in this fluid that sperms are transported and deposited in the vagina. Normally, the semen is an alkaline fluid, but depending on the pH of the body, it may be found to be acidic.

An acidic pH will surely kill the sperms before they are deposited in the vagina. In some cases, the semen has not been as alkaline as it should be and since its role is to neutralize the acidity in the vagina, this role may fail. When the semen fails in its role of neutralizing the acidity of the vagina, it will remain acidic and may destroy the sperm cells. In both cases, the outcome is that the sperm cells will not live long enough to meet an egg to fertilize it.

The pH of the vaginal fluid and the semen may be alkaline at the time of ovulation and pregnancy may still not occur. In such a case as this, it may be that the general pH of the body has affected the production of the hormones. The major hormones that regulate the menstrual cycle are oestrogen and progesterone, and the ovaries produce these hormones.

Ongoing studies show that these hormones may be adversely affected if they are produced in an acidic environment as against an alkaline one. Even as these research works may not be conclusive, no harm will be done if the acidic pH of the body is made alkaline. Indeed, a lot of cases that were stated as cause unknown are responding to rehydration, diet change and exercise as means of changing the pH and causing conception to take place.

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