Late shifts and heavy loads at work might impact fertility in women - a podcast by BMJ Group

Ovarian function might be affected by non-daytime shifts and heavy lifting at work, a study published by Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) reveals.While occupational hazards have been shown to reduce fecundity, this is the first time biomarkers of fecundity were directly measured in women who have physically demanding jobs or work evening/night/rotating shifts. They were undergoing IVF treatment at a fertility centre, in an analysis conducted over a decade.In this podcast, Deputy Editor of OEM, Lesley Rushton, talks to Audrey Gaskins, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA, about the effects of the occupational exposures on the production of fewer eggs and decreased fertility.Dr Gaskins is one of the senior authors of the study ‘Occupational factors and markers of ovarian reserve and response among women at a fertility centre’.

More details can be found on the OEM website: https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2016-103953.

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