An opposing view is that being infertile may be a sign of underlying health problems, which may worsen overall health.
Now a study of the health records of nearly 80,000 women lends support to the idea that infertility could be ‘a harbinger’ of hormonal problems that increase the chances of dying.
The study included women aged between 55 and 74 whose health conditions were monitored, including their cause of death, between 1992 and 2001.
Women were classed as having fertility problems if they had reported being unable to conceive for one year or greater.
In research to be presented at the Annual Congress of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in San Antonio, Texas, researchers presented findings that found female infertility patients had a higher risk of death from hormone related disorders such as breast cancer and diabetes.
During the 13-year study period, 11,006 women – 14.5 per cent of the total – reported infertility.
Most women were alive at the end of the study – and of those who died in each group, the average age of death was 74. But deaths among infertile women were higher.
Overall, infertile women were 10 per cent more likely to have died than fertile women.
The study found that infertility was not linked to higher rates of ovarian cancer, or cancers of the womb.
And even though the incidence of diabetes was similar in fertile and infertile women, infertile women experienced a increased risk of death from endocrine related diseases.
