Procedure didn’t reduce complications or improve outlook.
Month: February 2013
How Many Eggs Do I Have Left?
Carla M. DiGirolamo, M.D., Ph.D. of RSC of New England discusses how to anticipate fertility issues down the road in this video, sponsored by Attain Fertility Centers. To view other educational AFA’s videos, check out our YouTube …
German Bishops Agree Catholic Hospitals Can Prescribe Emergency Contraception to Rape Victims
German bishops have agreed that Roman Catholic-run hospitals should be allowed to prescribe the morning-after pill to rape victims to prevent conception.
Unspoken Emotions for New Mothers: Postpartum Blues and/or Depression
For many mothers, the only picture that they can imagine is one of themselves holding their beautiful new sleeping baby in their arms, feeling a sense of calm and accomplishment with their new life as a parent. Yet, parenthood is filled with …
Embryo-like stem cells enter first human trial
It will be the first clinical study to put induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into humans — and where more fitting than in Japan, where Shinya Yamanaka garnered a Nobel prize last December for showing how to take bodily cells and return them to an embryo-like pluripotent state.
Masayo Takahashi of the Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe just cleared the second and, observers say, most difficult hurdle in starting her iPS cell trial to treat age-related macular degeneration, a condition that affects the retina and can lead to blindness.
On Wednesday an institutional review board (IRB) at the Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation(IBRI), which is going to sponsor the trial, gave conditional approval. The team needs now only to notify the IRB of the final results of some preclinical safety trials now underway (see story in Japanese). Read full article.
Puppy Born From Frozen Embryo May Offer Hope to Endangered Animals
A frisky 9-month old Labrador-beagle mix named Klondike could hold the secret to how to preserve endangered species of foxes or wolves.
How TV Shows Handle Menopause
One of the things that grabbed me most about the new Netflix House of Cards—other than the fact that I watched all 13 episodes in a 24-hour span—was the superb performance by Robin Wright. As Rep. Francis Underwood’s intensely focused wife, Claire, Wright managed to convey ruthlessness and driving ambition while also suggesting that Claire was questioning some of her life choices, especially when it came to love and romance. But since Claire is the sort of woman who is slow to trust and share, Wright had to express this inner turmoil in a guarded, coded way.
There’s a transactional quality to many of Claire’s relationships—much of her social life revolves around stage-managed appearances alongside her politician husband or fundraisers for the nonprofit she runs. And so she doesn’t open up with many people. Still, it’s striking how utterly reluctant she is to acknowledge the hot flashes she appears to experience early in the show. A female friend who notices her lingering for longer than is strictly necessary in front of the refrigerator tries to start a conversation about hot flashes and night sweats, but Claire simply changes the subject. Later, Francis brings up the same refrigerator pause, in what seems to be an attempt to shake Claire’s steely composure. Read full article.
Infertility and Childhood Asthma
(dailyRx News) When a couple has trouble conceiving, they may use infertility treatments to get pregnant. New research suggests there could be a connection between these treatments and childhood asthma.
The study found that children born to parents who sought treatment for fertility issues were more likely to experience asthma, wheezing and to be taking asthma medication at the age of 5 than children who were conceived without medical intervention.
The researchers did not find that the parents’ infertility treatments caused asthma in their children, but rather that there is a slightly higher chance that children born after fertility treatments might develop asthma. More research is needed to better understand the link.
Claire Carson, PhD, a researcher at the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford (UK), and colleagues led the study to find out if there was a link between parents’ infertility treatments and the likelihood that their children would develop asthma.
The study authors used data from a larger study called the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) to perform their research. The MCS has followed over 18,000 children in the United Kingdom born between 2000 and 2002.
The children were recruited into the MCS at nine months of age. Interviews were performed with their caretakers to get demographic information. Health data for both parents and children was also gathered, including information about the pregnancy and any infertility treatment. Read full article.
With sex ed, contraception–and Plan B–NYC teen pregnancy rate drops
The teen pregnancy rate among New York City’s public high school students dropped 27% over a decade, new city data shows. Among 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19, 73 became pregnant in 2010. That’s down from 99 of 1,000 girls who became pregnant in 2001.
“We’re seeing that there are two things happening: teens are both delaying sex, and those that are having sex are more likely to use contraceptives,” Deborah Kaplan, assistant commissioner of the New York City Department of Health’s Bureau of Maternal, Infant and Reproductive Health, told MSNBC.com. “Our efforts to make sex education and birth control more widely available in public high schools are working.”
According to the health department’s numbers, she’s right. From 2001 to 2011, there was a 12-point drop in the proportion of public high school students who have ever had sex: 51% to 39%. And from just 2009 to 2011, the proportion of sexually active female students who used hormonal contraception (Plan B included) or long-acting reversible contraception (such as an IUD) the last time they had intercourse increased from 17 to nearly 27%. Read full article.
Too much TV could damage sperm production
Semen quality is a much-discussed subject among scientists these days. Data suggests sperm concentration has been declining in Western countries over the past couple of decades – and reasons for the decline are debatable.
The lead author of a new study on the subject, Audrey Gaskins, has been studying the effects of diet and exercise on semen for several years as a doctoral candidate at the Harvard School of Public Health. Her latest research shows a lack of physical activity – and too much time in front of the television – may impact sperm count and concentration.
Previous studies have shown a link between physical activity and decreased levels of oxidative stress, Gaskins says. “Oxidative stress” is stress placed on the body as it tries to get rid of free radicals or repair the damage caused by them. Exercise may protect certain male cells from oxidative damage, Gaskins says, leading to increased sperm concentration. Read full article.