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While scientific studies continue to tout the benefits oftechnology in assisted reproduction, relatively little is knownabout natural methods of fertility enhancement. The importanceof the cervical mucus environment and it's affects on thefunction of male spermatozoa is underappreciated. In the absenceof cervical mucus, or in the case of vaginal dryness, couplesfrequently resort to personal lubricants. In recent studies,some of the commonly recommended lubricants, like KY®,Astroglide®, and Replens® have been found to actually damagesperm, perhaps even at a rate that is equivocal to contraceptiveJellies (http://www.helpconceive.com/hc_underEffects.html).Brand new evidence from a comparative study presented at theCojoint Meeting of the American Society for ReproductiveMedicine suggests that only Pre-Seed® did not appear to causesignificant damage to sperm.

In the first experiment, sperm was incubated for 30 minutes.Motility measurements were 66% in the lubricant-freeenvironment, versus 2% for Astroglide®, and 64% for Pre-Seed®.In the second experiment, sperm were evaluated after 4 hours ofincubation for damage to the genetic material and gradedaccording to the DNA fragmentation index. Pre-Seed demonstratedthe smallest effect with a 7% increase over the control (nolubricant).

The findings of this and other studies are significant. At theSaint Gerard Fertility Care Center, we always ask about personallubricants and the only one that we recommend during the fertiletime is Pre-Seed®. Another reason to use Pre-Seed is becausePre-Seed is also the only personal lubricant that meetsphysiologic pH and osmolarity requirements for sperm and mayprotect against the harmful effects of free radicals.

Recently I interviewed a woman who had been going to aninfertility specialist for more than 10 years and afterundergoing many medical treatments and surgical procedures withno pregnancies to show for it, she is now facing menopause.Interestingly, she and her spouse were using KY® routinely. Infact, they were buying it "by the box." She was surprised tofind out about the effects of KY®.

We believe that combined with the monitoring of fertility andcervical mucus, Pre-Seed can be added to a program ofinfertility (when fertility is present and cervical mucusquality is poor) as a routine recommendation for assistingcouples who desire to achieve pregnancy the natural way. At ourcenter, we have an easy to learn protocol that combines themonitoring of fertility and the use of Pre-Seed for thispurpose.

About the author:David Picella helps couples who are trying to conceive naturallywithout the use of expensive artificial reproductive techniques.You can read more articles published by him and by other expertsin this area at: http://majella.us