MOTHERHOOD begins as a tempestuously physical experience but quickly becomes a political one. Once a woman’s pregnancy goes public, the storm moves outside. Don’t pile on the pounds! Your child will be obese. Don’t eat too little, or your baby will be born too small. For heaven’s sake, don’t drink alcohol. Oh, please: you can sip some wine now and again. And no matter how many contradictory things the experts say, don’t panic. Stress hormones wreak havoc on a baby’s budding nervous system. Read full article.
Month: September 2012
Is China Running Out of Sperm?
Infertility is a growing problem in China. In southern Guangdong province, 14 percent of the population, which numbered 104 million in 2010, cannot conceive — and the fact that the province has only one sperm bank doesn’t help. Couples generally have to wait at least a year to have their names called. The sperm shortage has even prompted a desperate plea from a government official, according to one Chinese-language news site, asking college students to donate. ”Donating your sperm is healthy,” said Luo Wenzhi, the head of Guangdong’s family planning commission, in an interview. “It won’t hurt you nor kill you.” Read full article.
CIRCUMCISION: The Current Debate
by Michael Traister, M.D.
One of the most common questions I am asked by parents adopting a baby boy is “Does my baby need to be circumcised?”
The answer is not easy and evokes a lot of emotion. Last year in San Francisco, there …
Khloe Kardashian Shares Infertility Struggles, Kim Wants to Freeze Her Eggs
More Kardashian babies on the way?
On Sunday’s episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, sisters Kim, Kourtney and Khloe all had babies on the brain. Kourtney, who was still pregnant with daughter Penelope at the time, was already talking to boyfriend Scott Disick about having more children.
“I need to see what it’s like when I have two, but [having kids] is what life is about,” Kourtney, 33, explained. “I’m not going on the pill [after giving birth to Penelope]. I don’t believe in it anymore!” Read full article.
We came. We saw. We got drenched. (The AFA’s adventures at the T.E.A.L. Walk in Brooklyn)
by Corey Whelan
I have a request of you. Please, Tell Every Amazing Lady About Ovarian Cancer. Please do that. Because this lousy cancer steals women we love. Today, me and the Big Cheese (we do actually call him that) …
Taking Breaks From Prostate Cancer Hormone Therapy Seems Safe: Study
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 5 (HealthDay News) — Stop-and-start hormone-deprivation therapy for localized prostate cancer doesn’t shorten overall survival compared to continuous treatments, andyields fewer side effects such as impotence and hot flashes, a large new study suggests.
A team of Canadian, British and American researchers found that intermittent hormone treatments — which suppress circulating male hormones such as testosterone that “feed” prostate tumors — don’t increase the risk of disease progression. Intermittent treatment also doesn’t increase the chances that patients whose prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels are slowly rising will eventually die from prostate cancer. Read full article.
Women in Asia Largely Ignorant, Fatalistic, about Fertility
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Women in Asia are largely ignorant about fertility problems and tend to blame their failure to conceive on “God’s will” and bad luck, a survey has found.
The survey, which covered 1,000 women in 10 countries who had been trying to conceive for at least six months, found that 62 percent of them did not suspect they may have a fertility problem.
They were even less likely to point the finger at their husbands, with 80 percent of them not suspecting that their partners may have a problem with fertility.
Infertility is defined by the World Health Organisation as the inability to conceive after a year of regular, unprotected sex. But only 43 percent of the women surveyed knew that. Read full article.
Live love laugh: Winning stress reducers for wanna-be parents
by Corey Whelan
Blame it on the biological imperative but for many women, the desire to have a baby becomes undeniable somewhere between their late twenties and early forties. Those first ticks of the biological clock may sound like a boom, but …
IVF Embryos That Were Frozen May Result in Healthier Babies
Women who become pregnant with previously frozen IVF embryos tend to have healthier babies and fewer complications than those who have fresh embryos implanted, research suggests.
Fertility doctors found that mothers had a lower risk of bleeding in pregnancies with embryos that had been frozen and thawed, and went on to have fewer pre-term and low birthweight babies.
Fertility clinics in Britain usually transfer fresh embryos into women several days after they have been given hormone injections that stimulate their ovaries to release eggs. These are extracted and fertilised before being implanted. Any embryos that are not used straight away can be frozen for use months or years later. Read full article.
Excess Weight Can Lead to Weighty Sexual Issues
Obesity can negatively affect a person’s sexual enjoyment, and sadly, it can also make people less likely to practice safer sex. Some research even shows that obesity can prevent open communication between doctors and patients when it comes to issues of sexual concern.
A recent study from Duke University Medical Center found that obese people are likely to suffer from a number of sexual difficulties, including lack of sexual enjoyment, performance difficulty, and sexual avoidance. The research found that obese individuals are likely to suffer from these symptoms up to 25 times more than peers of a healthy weight. Read full article.