 NIH study links high cholesterol levels to lower fertility 
 
 Couples with highest cholesterol took longest to achieve pregnancy 
 
 High cholesterol levels may impair fertility in couples trying to achieve a pregnancy, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health, the University at Buffalo (New York), and Emory University in Atlanta. In a study of 501 couples who were trying to conceive, the time it took for the woman to become pregnant was longest if both partners had high cholesterol. Moreover, couples in which the woman had a high cholesterol level and the man did not also took longer to achieve pregnancy when compared to couples in which both partners had cholesterol levels in the acceptable range. “We’ve long known that high cholesterol levels increase the risk for heart disease,” said the study’s first author, Enrique Schisterman, Ph.D., chief of the Epidemiology Branch at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the institute that led the study. “In addition to safeguarding their health, our results suggest that couples wishing to achieve pregnancy would improve their chances by first ensuring that their cholesterol levels are in an acceptable range.” 
 
 The study findings were published online in JCEM, The Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, a publication of the Endocrine Society. For this study, the researchers recruited couples in Texas and Michigan from 2005 to 2009, and followed them for a year or until they became pregnant. Study volunteers provided blood samples, which the researchers tested for free cholesterol. Measures of overall cholesterol, high-density lipoproteins (HDLs), low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), and triglycerides that people are accustomed to receiving from their doctors were not used in the study.
– High cholesterol is bad for more than just your arteries. A study released this week found that high cholesterol may make it tougher for couples to get pregnant, the Washington Post reports. Researchers came to their conclusion after following 501 couples who were trying to conceive (and controlling for other potential infertility contributors, like body mass index). Their finding held true when either both partners or just the woman had high cholesterol; no significant effect was seen if only the man had the condition. The effect was the most pronounced when both would-be parents had high levels, per a statement released by the National Institutes of Health. As study leader Enrique Schisterman explains, cholesterol plays a key role in the production of hormones like estrogen and testosterone. "An excess sometimes creates an imbalance of too much hormones, or too little hormones. You have to have a sweet spot." Schisterman cautions that the finding doesn't mean couples should rush to take cholesterol-lowering drugs, but he does encourage couples looking to become parents to lead a healthy lifestyle. (Click to read about another breakthrough in the study of fertility involving a protein called Juno.)