Elsevier

Fertility and Sterility

Volume 70, Issue 4, October 1998, Pages 632-637
Fertility and Sterility

Infertility and In Vitro Fertilization
Alcohol and caffeine consumption and decreased fertility

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0015-0282(98)00257-XGet rights and content
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Abstract

Objective: To examine the effects of alcohol and caffeine on conception.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Setting: Healthy volunteers in two manufacturing facilities.

Patient(s): One hundred twenty-four women who provided daily urine samples for measurement of steroid hormones and hCG, and prospective information about alcohol and caffeine consumption.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Probability of conception per 100 menstrual cycles.

Result(s): There was >50% reduction in the probability of conception during a menstrual cycle during which participants consumed alcohol. Caffeine consumption did not independently affect the probability of conception but may enhance alcohol’s negative effect. Women who abstained from alcohol and consumed less than one cup of coffee or its equivalent per day conceived 26.9 pregnancies per 100 menstrual cycles compared with 10.5 per 100 menstrual cycles among those who consumed any alcohol and more than one cup of coffee per day.

Conclusions: This study revealed an independent dose-related negative effect of alcohol consumption on the ability to conceive. Our results suggest that women who are attempting to conceive should abstain from consuming alcohol.

Keywords

Conception
alcohol consumption
caffeine consumption

Cited by (0)

Supported by International Business Machine Corporation grant 1097 and by the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health Population Center, National Institute of Child Health and Development grant No. 5 P30 HD06268.

Department of Populations Dynamics, Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health.

Division of Reproductive Endocrinology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.