Fertility News and Research

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Paying medical expenses, raising hopes, triggering fears ...

USA Today and Marketplace report on ways in which the cost of health care, especially regarding a serious illness, causes patient anxieties, challenges for the health system and new approaches within the marketplace.

21 Jan 2013

Study finds decline in spermatozoid concentration in young Spanish men

The first comparative study on the evolution of sperm quality in young Spanish men over ten years, headed by researchers at the University of Murcia, reveals that spermatozoid concentration in men between 18 and 23 years in the regions of Murcia and Almeria has dropped by an annual average of 2%.

19 Jan 2013

Scientists identify new mechanism for schistosomiasis-bladder cancer connection

About 200 million people across 75 of the poorest countries in the world are now infected by the blood parasite Schistosoma haematobium (S. haematobium). The infection causes severe urogenital disease, but also causes bladder cancer in a number of patients and why this occurs is not clear.

17 Jan 2013

Coenzyme Q10 supplement may boost male fertility

Taking a 3-month course of coenzyme Q10 supplements could improve semen quality among infertile men, show researchers.

16 Jan 2013

Leptin hormone also regulates airway diameter

A new study led by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers has found that leptin, a hormone that plays a key role in energy metabolism, fertility, and bone mass, also regulates airway diameter.

9 Jan 2013

Fertility window research uncovers miscarriage mechanism

Research in animals has shed light on how recurrent miscarriage is related to a dysregulation of the monthly “fertility window.”

8 Jan 2013

Many male cancer patients missing out on appropriate fertility advice

Pioneering research presented at the Fertility 2013 conference today shows that a large proportion of male cancer patients are missing out on appropriate fertility advice.

4 Jan 2013

Researchers analyze impact of 3 unexpected sex determination factors

So, is it a girl or a boy? This is the first question parents ask at the birth of an infant. Though the answer is obvious, the mechanism of sex determination is much less so. Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) attempt to shed light on this complex process by identifying the crucial role played by insulin and IGF1 and IGF2 growth factors, a family of hormones known for its role in metabolism and growth.

3 Jan 2013

Molecular signals make some women prone to miscarriage

Scientists have identified molecular signals that control whether embryos are accepted by the womb, and that appear to function abnormally in women who have suffered repeated miscarriages.

3 Jan 2013

Global infertility unchanged

The global rate of infertility has not significantly changed over the past 2 decades, with the exception of regions in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, a study shows.

2 Jan 2013

Smoking and drinking have no impact on male fertility

Alcohol drinking and smoking seem to have no significant impact on male fertility, report researchers.

19 Dec 2012

Researchers identify possible heredity mechanism that predisposes children to ALL

Researchers at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center and the University of Montreal have found a possible heredity mechanism that predisposes children to acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common type of blood cancer in children. According to their findings published in Genome Research, the presence of a genetic defect in the egg or sperm from which children having ALL arise may be a prerequisite for the disease to develop.

17 Dec 2012

Pfizer, Ligand announce FDA acceptance of bazedoxifene/conjugated estrogens NDA

Pfizer Inc. and Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for review a New Drug Application (NDA) for bazedoxifene/conjugated estrogens (BZA/CE), a potential new medicine for non-hysterectomized women for the treatment of moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS) and vulvar and vaginal atrophy (VVA) associated with menopause, as well as the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

14 Dec 2012

Madagascar traditional midwives recruited to bring women in labor to clinics for care

IRIN examines efforts to recruit Madagascar's traditional midwives, called "matronnes," to "a campaign to get women to deliver in clinics or hospitals, part of a move to lower maternal and newborn death rates."

13 Dec 2012

Transplanting spermatogonial stem cells could restore fertility in male cancer patients

Radiation and chemotherapy can pack a powerful punch against all kinds of cancers. Those who survive, however, are often left with bad news: Their treatments have rendered them infertile.

11 Dec 2012

BMI influences hormone levels in overweight, obesity

A high body mass index has no significant impact on parameters of sperm quality, although it does lower serum levels of testosterone, luteinizing hormone, and prolactin, say researchers.

5 Dec 2012

Study provides important data about fertility window of women with childhood cancer

This study provided important data about the fertility window of women who had suffered from childhood cancer and information concerning the associated risk factors, but did not confirm the greater risk of premature menopause (before the age of 40) that was reported by the American studies.

5 Dec 2012

Nanoparticle-based drug delivery attacks cancer cells without harming normal ones

This month, Molecular Pharmaceutics reported promising findings from the Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research and the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Delaware, about the potential for nanotechnology to deliver chemotherapeutic agents in a way that attacks cancer cells without harming healthy cells.

5 Dec 2012

Highlights for December 2012 issue of GSA’s Genetics journal

Listed below are the selected highlights for the December 2012 issue of the Genetics Society of America's journal, Genetics.

5 Dec 2012

Longer looks: Are 'pods' the solution to our long-term care crisis?; A Liver transplant in the nick of time; Pro-life activists and the abortion drop

In November 2006, when Clara Marshall began suffering from the effects of dementia, her family moved her into ... an assisted living home in Vancouver, Wash. ... just five months into her stay, Ms. Marshall, 81, was found dead in her room apparently strangled after getting her neck caught in side rails used to prevent her from rolling out of bed.

29 Nov 2012