Can Extreme Antibiotic Treatments Help You Get Pregnant?

 

 

A doctor in New York has been using an extreme treatment of antibiotics to help infertile couples conceive. And he’s having astonishing results. Many of the happy couples who are getting pregnant and delivering healthy babies believe Dr. Attila Toth is a miracle worker and genius but the medical community isn’t convinced that his methods are sound.

Anywhere from 7% to 28% of couples around the world experience infertility. The causes of infertility range from genetic factors to environmental factors such as exposure to toxins or the use of tobacco products. Of all causes of infertility experienced by couples, it’s estimated that 30% of the time, it is an issue of the man being infertile; 30% of the time, it’s an issue of the woman being infertile; 10% of the time, it’s an issue of both the man and woman being infertile; just 5% of the time, the cause is something else; and 25% of the time, the cause of the infertility is unknown. 

For couples having trouble getting pregnant for unknown reasons, expensive IVF and other extreme measures sometimes help. However some couples are unable to conceive, even after multiple IVFs. Other couples conceive only to later lose the fetus to a miscarriage. 

Toth’s Extreme Antibiotic Treatment for Infertility

Dr. Attila Toth has developed an alternative to IVF. For some of his patients, the extreme treatment involves IV antibiotics for both the man and the woman for 10 days. The woman also receives daily “washes” of yeast-infection medication, steroids, and 4 more antibiotics which are inserted into the uterus by means of a catheter every day for 10 days. Eash “wash,” (called a uterine lavage), is then followed by the insertion of an antibiotic containing paste into the vagina.

The treatment doesn’t stop there. The man receives an injection of antibiotics into his prostate (via his rectum) and sometimes an antibiotic injection into the seminal vesicles during those first 10 days. After the first 10 days of treatment, both the man and woman take 2 more kinds of antibiotics orally for 4 weeks. 

Why so Many Antibiotics?

Toth has discovered that many couples who experience infertility issues for “unknown” causes, the culprit is Chlamydia. Although simple tests for Chlamydia do exist, (as well as a standard treatment of oral antibiotics for 7 days), Toth has found that the standard tests are not always accurate. 

Toth believes that additionally testing for Chlamydia is often needed and that the treatment of Chlamydia with oral antibiotics for 7 days is often not enough.

Isn’t Overuse of Antibiotics Bad?

I don’t know about you but when I first read about Toth’s treatment, alarm bells went off in my head. Haven’t we all been warned against the overuse of antibiotics? What about all of the reports that taking too many antibiotics can cause antibiotic resistance? 

“I am against inappropriate antibiotic use, but… The likelihood that a person getting this treatment would develop infection with highly resistant bacteria is very small,” says Sandra Arnold, MD, a pediatric infectious-disease specialist.

With better success rates than other methods, Toth could very well be onto something here. Charles M. March, MD, a reproductive endocrinologist says, "[Toth] is controversial, but I have patients who swear he walks on water because they went home with a baby." And for many previously infertile couples desperate to get pregnant, Toth’s extreme antibiotic treatment has been a dream come true.

What do you think? Miracle infertility cure or dangerous medicine? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.