Learn why egg health is central to female fertility and what you can do to support your eggs. In this webinar, Dr. Norbert Gleicher, a pioneering reproductive endocrinologist with expertise in ovarian reserve and egg quality, explains what egg health is, and what you can do to support your eggs for best chances of a healthy pregnancy.

What you'll learn in the egg health webinar:

If you've been trying for a baby but not gotten pregnant, egg health may be high on your list to look into. Most women who have egg quality issues don't know that this is happening. Poor egg quality often doesn't have any symptoms - other than the fact that women with egg quality issues take a long time before they get pregnant or have miscarriages. In this 20-minute lunchtime webinar, learn from the expert why egg health is so central to female fertility, and what you can do - on your own and with professional help - to optimize the conditions in the ovaries from the cellular level.

Speaker:

Norbert Gleicher, MD
Medical Director & Chief Scientist, Center for Human Reproduction
Guest Investigator, Rockefeller University
Professor (Adj.) at Medical University Vienna

With 400+ research papers and multiple textbooks, Dr. Gleicher is one of the most sought-after speakers at international conferences in reproductive medicine. Dr. Gleicher and his team's work was instrumental in our current understanding of ovarian aging and has led to the introduction of DHEA supplementation to support egg health.

Originally aired on:

March 24, 2021

Post-webinar Q&A on improving your egg quality

Dr. Gleicher answered some of the (many) questions we received from the audience, as well as those who couldn't attend the webinar.

Egg quality in general

Q: After you eat healthy, exercise and take supplements for a while, how do you know when your egg quality is improving?

A: It can be hard to know without the tools healthcare providers have. Improving egg quality can be seen via blood tests: Improving AMH. If you are going through IVF, you'll have more eggs; eggs look better under the microscope (have better morphology). The same can be said about embryos: you'll have better-looking and more embryos. And finally, you'll see improving egg quality in better pregnancy rates.

Q: What is embryo fragmentation? Is it caused by egg health issues?

A: Embryo fragmentation is a sign of poor embryo quality, so yes, egg quality issues can lead to high embryo fragmentation.

Q: Do endometriosis and fibroids affect egg quality? Does the effect change with age?

A: Fibroids do not. There are some studies that suggest endometriosis negatively affects egg and embryo quality, but there is no consensus, likely because endometriosis has a wide variety of presentations. Recent data suggests that when endometriosis is inside the ovary, it speeds up follicle activation and recruitment, possibly affecting egg quality. When the endometriosis is outside of the ovaries, it may not affect eggs much.

Other ways to improve egg quality

Q: Does Low Level Laser Therapy improve egg quality? What’s the current state of this option? Is it a beneficial addition to IVF and/or PRP?

A: No, there is nothing in the literature to support this technology except what the inventors are claiming.

Q: Are there any evidence suggesting that Royal Jelly improves egg quality?

A: No, there is nothing in the literature to support this, either.

Q: I’m menopausal at 32, and my egg quality is poor. Do you have any recommendations of what to do or take to increase my chance of conceiving? I cannot do IVF.

A: Possibly PRP and taking HGH, but we cannot make clinical recommendations unless you are our patient at CHR.

Q: What would you recommend for a 42-year-old woman who doesn’t have a diagnosis of DOR but have poor egg/embryo quality?

A: Definitely see a fertility specialist, someone with expertise in DOR, preferably at CHR.

Have more egg quality questions?

Some of Dr. Gleicher's answers cannot be published here due to legal limitations. If you have a question that's not answered here, please reach out to us!