Author: brigitte

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Clinics to Begin Tests for Genetic Disorders in Embryos

brigitte

COUPLES who want to find out if they are going to have a baby with an inherited disorder can now avail of controversial tests in Irish clinics for the first time.

Embryos produced through IVF can now be tested to show if they are free of specific disorders, such as cystic fibrosis. It means the couple can choose not to have an embryo which proves positive for the disorder implanted in the mother’s womb.

Couples previously had to go abroad for the tests, but licences have been granted to the Beacon CARE Fertility Clinic in Dublin and the Cork Fertility Clinic. Read full article.

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Birth Control Pills May Improve Women’s Cognitive Abilities Later In Life

brigitte

Beginning in the 1960s, the introduction of hormonal birth control pills introduced modern family planning to the world, preventing unwanted pregnancies and generally making the world a better place for everyone concerned. It turns out the pill may do even more than that, though. A new study shows that taking hormonal birth control before menopause may improve women’s cognitive function later in life, leaving them sharper and more mentally “with it” than peers who weren’t on the pill.

Published in the Journal of Women’s Health, the study of 261 women showed that women who had been on hormonal birth control scored better on  tests involving spatial reasoning and fast, flexible thinking. More than that though, the data suggests that the longer a woman was taking hormonal birth control, the more pronounced her improvements on the the tests were likely to be. Thus, the longer a woman is on birth control before menopause, the more mentally sharp she’s likely to be after it. Read full article.

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Female Viagra to Help Women Reach Orgasm Could Soon Be Available as a Nasal Spray

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Women who have difficulty reaching orgasm during sex could soon have help thanks to a medicated nasal spray.

Up to 30 per cent of women suffer from the condition known as anorgasmia, yet there are currently no approved treatments on the market.

Now scientists are developing a treatment that’s been nicknamed the ‘female Viagra’ after the erectile dysfunction drug first prescribed to men in 1998.

The treatment, called Tefina, needs to be administered in droplet sized doses via the nostrils two hours before sex and is expected to work for six hours. The testosterone-based treatment is thought to boost sexual desire by activating relevant parts of the brain and increasing blood flow to the sexual organs. Read full article.

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Man’s Death Ends Parents’ Legal Quest for His Sperm

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A Roanoke man who had been in critical condition since an Oct. 14 car wreck in Franklin County died Thursday, according to his family and state police.

Rufus Arthur McGill II, 19, crashed his mother’s 2005 Cadillac near Boones Mill last month. The wreck involved six people, and killed Hannah M. Long, a 15-year-old Liberty High School student.

McGill, who went by Sonny, had been on life support at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. The Roanoke Times reported Wednesday that McGill’s parents, Jerri and Rufus McGill, wanted to harvest his sperm in order to have grandchildren.

Jerri McGill said Saturday that they will not be able to harvest their son’s sperm because getting a court order would take several days. McGill said she was told by doctors that the sperm would have to be extracted and frozen within 24 to 36 hours after her son’s death. Read full article.

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Inside World’s Biggest Sperm Bank

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Denmark: Ole Schou was 27 years old when he had a dream. It was 1981 and he was a graduate student at a business school in the Danish city of Aarhus.

In the dream, Schou saw an icy blue sea and, caught in the waves, hundreds of frozen sperm. “It was such a peculiar dream that I could not forget it,” he recalls, “so sometime later I walked into the university library and asked for any literature on sperm and fertility.”

Schou started reading and became obsessed. “My dream had given me another dream,” Schou says. “I was going to build a sperm bank.”

That dream came true. Cryos, the company Schou started up 25 years ago this month, is today the world’s largest sperm bank. Schou estimates that Cryos has been responsible for more than 30,000 births, producing more than 2,000 babies a year, and in what has been called a new Viking invasion the company exports sperm to more than 70 countries. Cryos and similar companies, such as the European Sperm Bank, have helped turn Denmark into the sperm capital of the world. Read full article.

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The American Fertility Association Educates Patients About Elective Single Embryo Transfer

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NEW YORK, Nov. 5, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ — The American Fertility Association (The AFA) recognizes the significance of the report released November 1, 2012, by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noting the relationship between Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and the finding that “…women who undergo ART procedures are more likely to deliver multiple-birth infants than those who conceive naturally.”

The report highlights the “significant risks” that multiple births pose to both mothers and infants, and lists “pregnancy complications, pre-term delivery, and low birth-weight infants” as some of the major problems which can occur.

The report notes “the promotion of elective Single Embryo Transfer (eSET),… where feasible, is needed to reduce multiple births and related adverse consequences of ART.” Read full article.

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Get Rid of Hot Flashes with Relaxation

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That’s the word from researchers at Baylor University’s Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory.

Relaxing — specifically, hypnotic relaxation therapy — reduced hot flashes in post-menopausal women by as much as 80 percent, researchers there have found. And it worked in a matter of weeks.

Besides that, women who used the relaxation therapy felt less anxious and depressed and said their quality of life was better.

Therapists provided the 187 women in the study with weekly hypnosis sessions. But participants also practiced self-hypnosis during the five-week study, according to an article published online Oct. 22 in Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society. Read full article.

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Changes in Carotid Artery During Menopausal Transition May Predispose Women to Higher Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

brigitte

Substantial changes in the diameter and thickness of a section of carotid artery in perimenopausal women may indicate a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in women, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

Epidemiologists studied 249 women aged 42 to 52 from the Pittsburgh site of the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) observational study. Each participant was given up to five ultrasound scans during transitional phases of menopause to measure the thickness and diameter of a section of the carotid artery. Researchers noted significant increases in the average thickness (0.017 mm per year) and diameter (0.024 mm per year) of the carotid artery during the late perimenopausal stage, the period of time when menstruation ceases for more than three consecutive months. These increases were significantly higher than those found in the premenopausal stage. Read full article.

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How Did Science, Medicine, and the Environment Do in the Elections?

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Overall, it was a pretty good night for science. Voters may have had other issues in mind, but when they re-elected President Obama, they endorsed one of the most scientifically accomplished administrations in U.S. history. Obama has been a great supporter of science education and research; he has appointed science-friendly people to science posts (whichshouldn’t be a big accomplishment but is); and although it wasn’t the first act of his presidency (there’s no shame in losing out to Lily Ledbetter), he did give a great shout-out to science just a few weeks after taking office:

Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration on a wide range of issues, including improvement of public health, protection of the environment, increased efficiency in the use of energy and other resources, mitigation of the threat of climate change, and protection of national security.

A win for Obama was a win for science, the environment, and health care. Read full article.

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Family Act Offers Relief for Families Facing Infertility

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HOUSTON – One in eight American couples struggles with fertility.

Now, proposed federal legislation would provide a tax credit to those who choose in vitro fertilization as a way to build a family.

After trying several fertility procedures covered by her insurance, former school teacher Leigh Cook decided to try in vitro fertilization (IVF), which was more expensive. Cook said, “Within just months, I was able to have a family. So now I have 4-1/2-year-old twins because of the right treatment.” Cook said she would’ve chosen in vitro right away, had it not been for the high cost — about $12,000 each treatment.

Dr. Jason Griffith with Houston Fertility Institute has joined other reproductive specialists on Capitol Hill supporting the Family Act tax credit for those who choose IVF. Read full article.