It's interesting and a bit sad to look at what has been happening to fertility statistics in the USA. Women in their 20s are having far fewer babies now than they did 20 years ago. (See https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/stories/2022/04/fertility-rates-declined-for-younger-women-increased-for-older-women-figure-2.jpg.) No, it's not because they're less interested in having relationships or have greater access to birth control and abortions. While careers are certainly important to them, careers were important 20 years ago. Early abortion medicines are more available now than they were 20 years ago, so that could certainly be part of it, but effective contraceptive alternatives were numerous (and often given out free) 20 years ago. The dropoff in fertility seems to be more than just an increase in access to abortion. Many women in their 20s who want to have babies are having issues conceiving; that used to be quite rare, if I recall correctly. What could be happening?
I was recently learning about urinary tract infections and came across an interesting article on trigonitis (the trigone is a triangular piece of tissue in the lower part of the bladder), and it mentioned the efficacy of using sodium hyaluronate to help rebuild the surface of the trigone in order to heal trigonits.
Sodium hyaluronate is a derivative of hyaluronic acid that replaces the deficient glycosaminoglycan (GAG) layer of the bladder wall. It is the traditional agent for GAG substitution therapy based on existing theories about urothelial dysfunction. Sodium hyaluronate has been safely administered with success for the treatment of chemical and radiation cystitis as well as interstitial cystitis.
Stavropoulos M, Papatsoris AG, Konstantinidis C, Chrisofos M. Pseudomembranous Trigonitis: A Common but Underrecognized Urological Entity. Adv Urol. 2010;2010:269254. doi: 10.1155/2010/269254. Epub 2010 Dec 1. PMCID: PMC2997493. (online at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2997493)
Tight junction proteins are important in the tissue of the trigone compared to the rest of the bladder. (See Sánchez Freire V, Burkhard FC, Schmitz A, Kessler TM, Monastyrskaya K. Structural differences between the bladder dome and trigone revealed by mRNA expression analysis of cold-cut biopsies. BJU Int. 2011 Jul;108(2 Pt 2):E126-35. doi: 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2010.09934.x. Epub 2011 Jan 18. PMID: 21244608 (online at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21244608)).
Reduction of tight junction complexity in the uterus--which is right next to the bladder--can prevent blastocysts from implanting in the uterine surface and thus prevent a successful pregnancy. (See Mokhtar MH, Giribabu N, Salleh N. Testosterone Reduces Tight Junction Complexity and Down-regulates Expression of Claudin-4 and Occludin in the Endometrium in Ovariectomized, Sex-steroid Replacement Rats. In Vivo. 2020 Jan-Feb;34(1):225-231. doi: 10.21873/invivo.11764. PMID: 31882482; PMCID: PMC6984066 (online at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6984066))
If you've been paying attention to cosmetics and hair products in the past few decades, there has been a noticeable increase in the ones touting the inclusion of hyaluronic acid. Moreover, hyaluronic acid can also be present in ingredients such as keratin, hydrolyzed keratin, and the like.
Women, what if the sodium in our diets and in our bodies is sometimes combining with the hyaluronic acid in hair and cosmetic products to mess with the tight junction proteins in our uterine surfaces in ways that are contributing to female infertility? Is any hair look worth that result? A great adventure and joy of my life is being a mother, and I would hate to leave uninvestigated anything that could be preventing other women from enjoying the same privilege.
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