Ovulation Disorders and Lifestyle Factors As Co-Dependent Underlying Causes of Ovulatory Infertility—A Literature Review with a Proposed Classification of Etiological Factors of Ovulatory Infertility

Ovulatory infertility is a serious clinical problem whose direct causes are still largely unknown. In addition to pathologies that make it impossible for a couple to establish a pregnancy, there are a number of other factors that have a bearing on fertility, including lifestyle factors, particularly diet. Although numerous studies have been performed linking such factors with ovulatory infertility, most of them lack the necessary clinical significance, focusing instead on observational data and establishing associative relationships. This paper includes a literature review focusing on connections between lifestyle factors such as diet, physical exercise, oxidative stress, sleep, and supplementation, and ovulatory infertility. Special emphasis was given to issues such as obesity and insulin resistance and their mutual relationship with other factors linked to ovulatory infertility. In addition, making use of the conclusions of literature review, the authors propose a classification of relationships between ovulation disorders and lifestyle factors in ovulatory infertility based on the WHO classification of ovulation disorders, and indicate areas that merit further research. The data presented in the paper shows that the issues of proper diet and physical exercise are those that would merit from robust clinical studies focused specifically on ovulation infertility, while studies concerning the relationship between oxidative stress, sleep, and supplementation and ovulatory infertility do not seem to be promising directions as far as clinical significance is concerned.