The ovarian reserve is the number of healthy eggs in a woman’s ovaries that could potentially be fertilized. It is a measure of a woman’s fertility and ability to have children.

“These findings highlight the negative effect that mental health conditions can have on health – specifically, reproductive health,” said first author Michelle Valenti, MPH, a doctoral student in epidemiology at the Zuckerman College of Public Health and program coordinator of the Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study’s Women Firefighter Studies.

The paper “Evaluating the Effect of Depression, Anxiety, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on Anti-Müllerian Hormone Levels Among Women Firefighters,” was published in the Journal of Women’s Health.

Firefighters are exposed to high stress and traumatic situations in addition to chemical exposures and have a higher prevalence of PTSD compared with the general population. Previous research showed that women firefighters have lower levels of anti-Müllerian hormone compared with women who are not firefighters; however, the reason why was unknown.

The research team, which included personnel at the Zuckerman College of Public Health’s Center for Firefighter Health Collaborative Research, led this analysis to determine whether anxiety, depression or PTSD were associated with anti-Müllerian hormone levels. They found that clinical diagnoses of PTSD and anxiety among women firefighters were associated with reductions in anti-Müllerian hormone levels of 66% and 33%, respectively.

Source: https://healthsciences.arizona.edu/news/releases/research-shows-ptsd-anxiety-may-affect-reproductive-health-women-firefighters