Month: September 2012

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Italian Ban on Embryo Screening Violated Couple’s Rights

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Italy has violated the rights of a couple carrying cystic fibrosis by preventing them from screening embryos using PGD, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled. The Strasbourg-based court ordered the Italian Government to pay the couple €17,500 in damages and expenses.

Rosetta Costa and Walter Pavan found out that they were both healthy carriers of cystic fibrosis when they gave birth to a daughter with the condition in 2006. In 2010, the couple terminated another pregnancy on medical grounds when the fetus was found to have cystic fibrosis. Read full article.

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41 Years Ago, a Sperm Donation. Today, Twins.

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With proper storage, even 40-year-old sperm can get the job done.

A North Oaks-based company called ReproTech says it played a role in the August birth of twin girls to a woman inseminated with sperm that was frozen back in 1971.

Few details about the sperm donor and birth family were available for privacy reasons, but the local company says the previous record for a successful live birth using “cryopreserved” sperm was 28 years.

Russell Bierbaum, chief executive at ReproTech, said he hopes the story will help convince more young men facing a cancer diagnosis to consider banking their sperm before undergoing chemotherapy treatments that could impair their fertility. Read full article.

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Study: Hormone Use By Postmenopausal Women Keeps Dropping

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The number of U.S. women popping post-menopausal hormone pills didn’t just drop after one big study a decade ago — it kept dropping through at least 2010, a large new study shows.

As of 2009-2010, just 4.7% of women over age 40 said they were taking the hormones (estrogen or estrogen plus progestin), at least in pill form, says the study of 10,107 women published this week in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

That’s down from 22.4% in the years 1999 through 2002, says researchers led by Brian L. Sprague of the University of Vermont. The big plunge first showed up in 2003-2004 — after the 2002 publication of results from the Women’s Health Initiative. That study linked the combination of estrogen and progestin with breast cancer, heart disease and stroke and found average risks outweighed benefits. It left women seeking other solutions — many of them not very effective — for hot flashes, vaginal dryness and other menopause symptoms. Read full article.

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Could Personhood Bills Outlaw IVF?

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(CNN) — For the past two weeks, since Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin uttered the phrase “legitimate rape,” Republicans have had to face questions about their attempts to end abortion.

But could these same attempts also outlaw in vitro fertilization?

The Republican Party’s platform states: “We assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.” Read full article.

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Early Menopause: A Genetic Mouse Model of Human Primary Ovarian Insufficiency

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Scientists have established a genetic mouse model for primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), a human condition in which women experience irregular menstrual cycles and reduced fertility, and early exposure to estrogen deficiency.

POI affects approximately one in a hundred women. In most cases of primary ovarian insufficiency, the cause is mysterious, although genetics is known to play a causative role. There are no treatments designed to help preserve fertility. Some women with POI retain some ovarian function and a fraction (5-10 percent) have children after receiving the diagnosis. Read full article.