Trying to conceive but it's just not happening? Maybe your alcohol intake is to blame and it's a problem that's applicable to both women and men

WE ALL love a drink at Christmas. In fact, we love a drink most of the time -- endless statistics are there to prove it. Studies have shown that adults in Ireland have the highest reported consumption per drinker and the highest level of binge drinking in comparison to adults in other European countries.

But as this year's festive season approaches and we look forward to the seasonal run of fun-filled, booze-fuelled nights, it seems the inevitable hangover isn't the only thing we need to worry about.

The latest fertility research has indicated that drinking too much may have more far-reaching implications than a headache and an upset tummy the following day.

Drinking four glasses of alcohol per week, or, for example, four units of white wine per week, can significantly reduce a woman's chances of becoming pregnant through IVF, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the Harvard Medical School.

More than 2,500 couples attempting to have a baby through IVF were studied. Researchers compared survey results from those couples who regularly drank alcohol to those who did not.

Wine

They concluded that increased alcohol consumption in both men and women strongly decreased the likelihood of a woman's egg being successfully fertilised.

Consuming more than four drinks per week can reduce the chance of conception by 18pc for women and 14pc for men, the study found. In couples where both the man and woman drink up to four drinks a week, chances of conception can be reduced by 26pc.

The effects of alcohol consumption on successful pregnancy were most pronounced in women who drank four units of white wine per week and in men who consumed the same amount of beer.

Drinking, it seems, is a factor that -- along with age and smoking -- is increasingly being recognised as having a significant negative effect on fertility levels.

Radio presenter and Strictly Come Dancing contestant Zoe Ball loved a drink -- she was even pictured with a bottle of Jack Daniels on her wedding day.

But despite her seemingly privileged life -- she's married to DJ Fatboy Slim, AKA Norman Cook, and they live in a £2m beachfront home -- the one thing she wanted but couldn't have was a second child.

Their son Woody was born eight years ago and despite trying for a second baby, nothing was happening.

"It was heartbreaking," she says. "It was so hard having to carry on pretending it didn't matter."

With her 40th birthday looming next year, she felt that she was running out of time.

She became concerned that maybe it was her and her husband's drinking that was the impediment so in January she decided to give up alcohol. In March Norman went into rehab for alcohol addiction.

The following month, a few weeks after he left the clinic, Zoe became pregnant.

"It's worth giving up alcohol if you are having trouble conceiving. I'm convinced that's what was stopping us.

"It's what I'm telling friends who are struggling to get pregnant. Even if it's for a few months it's worth a try," says the presenter, whose baby is due early in the new year.

Dr David Walsh, medical director of the SIMS fertility clinic in Dublin, says that European fertility experts traditionally tend to take a more tolerant view on alcohol consumption compared to their US counterparts, but this is changing.

"Until recently I would have felt there was no major evidence of an effect from moderate alcohol consumption.

"Cigarettes were a definite no-no but a lot of fertility doctors would have been more permissive about alcohol.

"I feel people in general and doctors are not necessarily aware of the link -- we all know about smoking but the alcohol link is not necessary widely known, even among fertility doctors, but it will come."

He now believes it's worth cutting out alcohol completely if you've been trying to conceive for a long time and are having fertility treatment.

"It makes sense to cut it out completely. The argument is not quite so strong if you have been trying for long but have not been having fertility treatment -- however it still applies to a lesser extent."

His advice is underlined by the recommendation of organisations such as Foresight in the UK, which advises couples who wish to have a baby to cut out alcoholic beverages completely.

There is growing awareness of the link between alcohol abuse and infertility, believes Dr Phil O'Boyle, a fertility-care physician at the Galway Clinic.

"Most people already know about the effect of alcohol on infertility -- very few people I would see would be drinking to excess," he says.

Dublin GP Dr Mel Bates believes that patients are increasingly aware of the link and that many are aware of it through their own research by the time they come to him. They are often willing to ease up on their intake or stop completely.

"I think that by the time they get to me, people are aware of the link. Most people will have come across the fact that alcohol causes problems. If they are coming to me with infertility many people will already have looked into it.

"I think people do realise that it affects fertility. They'll look it up on the internet and they will be pointed to alcohol intake as a possible problem. I would have had people who would have been heavy drinkers in the past but such is their motivation to get pregnant that they will ease up or stop."

Complex

However as Dr Bates, a spokesman for the Irish College of General Practitioners, points out, most cases of infertility are quite complex and there may be several factors behind it.

Some may be in a state of denial about how much they are drinking and the issue needs to be handled sensitively, he says, because there may be several reasons for a couple's infertility.

"This is an individual thing, there is no fairness in it. There are people who are on heroin who are having child after child and there are people who are living very healthy lives and they are having difficulty in having children."

However the lifestyle of both partners, it seems, is increasingly being seen as one of the keys to fertility problems.

A good general rule to consider, says Dr O'Boyle, is that anything that is bad for your health is bad for your fertility. He recommends the following guidelines for patients trying to become pregnant.

"We would go with the guidelines of no more than 14 units (one unit equals a small glass of wine or a half pint of ordinary strength beer) per week for women or 24 units for a man."

He also recommends that people should not have more than four units at one sitting.

Evidence

"We don't have solid evidence to back that up, other than that binge drinking has been shown to be bad for your health, so anything that's bad for your health tends to be bad for your fertility.

"Our concept is that couples trying to conceive should be healthy and happy. If they are unhealthy their chances of conceiving will be less. I feel the vast majority of people I would see are aware of the link between alcohol and tobacco as being two harmful things for fertility levels."

However, he says, happiness is also important. "We tell people it's also important to have fun and enjoy life and sometimes a part of that is having a few drinks and a social life, as long as it is not to excess.

"If you go for small amounts and light to moderate consumption then you should be OK."

He's against recommending the exclusion of alcohol in the diet, he says, because a very extreme lifestyle change can be stressful for people."

Instead he advises patients used to a hectic social life, where they regularly drink more than four units at a time, to try to reduce their intake to between two and four units from the moment they decide to conceive.

"If someone goes complete cold turkey on alcohol their stress level goes up and life becomes drudgery.

"If people put this kind of stricture on themselves and feel they have no permission to have a bit of fun their stress builds up. Stress is a very potent thing that can affect successful conception, so enjoy life within reason and be happy and healthy."

Alcohol and tobacco are not the only fertility miscreants, says Dr O'Boyle.

It's also worth remembering that the negative impact of caffeine tends to be underestimated by many people, he says. More than four caffeine drinks per day -- ie, tea, coffee and coke -- can affect fertility, he says.

- Ailin Quinlan

Irish Independent