Infertility News and Research

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Infertility primarily refers to the biological inability of a person to contribute to conception. Infertility may also refer to the state of a woman who is unable to carry a pregnancy to full term.

More Canadian children are surviving cancer

This year's report includes a special section on childhood cancer and reveals that the five-year survival rate for all childhood cancers is 82 per cent - an 11 per cent increase during the past 15 years.

10 Apr 2008

miRNAs can control the fertility of female mice

Small molecules known as miRNAs, which are generated naturally by the body, regulate the conversion of genetic information into proteins.

9 Apr 2008

Why synthetic estrogens wreak havoc on reproductive system

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine now have a clearer understanding of why synthetic estrogens such as those found in many widely-used plastics have a detrimental effect on a developing fetus, cause fertility problems, as well as vaginal and breast cancers.

1 Apr 2008

Grhelin hormone that controls hunger and appetite also linked to reduced fertility

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that in-utero exposure to the hormone grhelin, a molecule that controls appetite and hunger and nutrition, can result in decreased fertility and fewer offspring.

1 Apr 2008

Standard low-dose birth control pill can actually help women conceive

Women who have tried to conceive using in vitro fertilization (IVF) methods are painfully aware that timing is of the essence.

25 Mar 2008

Penn researchers identify first sex chromosome gene involved in meiosis and male infertility

A team of scientists led by University of Pennsylvania veterinary researchers have identified a gene, TEX11, located on the X chromosome, which when disrupted in mice renders the males sterile and reduces female fecundity.

17 Mar 2008

SWHR statement on CDC report on young women and STDs

Society for Women's Health Research President and CEO Phyllis Greenberger, M.S.W., issued the following statement in response to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released yesterday, which found that one in four females aged 14-19 has a sexually transmitted disease:

14 Mar 2008

Programme of fertility treatment for developing countries

since the world's first "test-tube" baby was born in July 1978 - the benefits of modern infertility treatments have been largely confined to couples in developed countries.

13 Mar 2008

Home test kit confirms men's post-vasectomy sterility

Technology developed at the University of Virginia could soon have a dramatic impact on male contraception practices throughout the U.S. Earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved SpermCheck Vasectomy, a home test that confirms men's post-vasectomy sterility and is based on discoveries made at U.Va.

12 Mar 2008

A quarter of teenage girls in the U.S. have a sex-related disease

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States has revealed that a quarter of teen girls have a sex-related disease.

11 Mar 2008

Minimally invasive fibroid treatment fares well in multicenter trial

A new multicenter trial found that uterine artery embolization (UAE) is a good alternative to hysterectomy in women with symptomatic fibroids.

27 Feb 2008

Booze and smokes damage men's sperm

According to the latest research exposure to environmental toxins can damage sperm and the resulting defects can be passed down for generations.

20 Feb 2008

Expert says obesity is as big a threat to the planet as climate change

As the latest statistics estimate that worldwide one billion adults are overweight, and a third of those are obese, an expert has stated that the issue must be regarded with the same urgency as climate change.

19 Feb 2008

Infertility is a growing problem

Infertility will become more prevalent in generations to come, but interpreting these trends is complicated, say researchers in this week's BMJ.

17 Feb 2008

Acupuncture improves the success rate of IVF treatment

An analysis of seven scientific trials has shown that acupuncture increases the chance of success during in vitro fertilization (IVF).

11 Feb 2008

Quality control mechanism tags defective sperm cells inside the body

Defective sperm cells do not pass through the body unnoticed. A new University of Missouri study provides evidence that the body recognizes and tags defective sperm cells while they undergo maturation in the epididymis, a sperm storage gland attached to the testis.

24 Jan 2008

Evolutionary phenomenon in mice may explain human infertility

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that field mice have evolved a unique way of ensuring faster fertilisation, a phenomenon which could explain some cases of infertility in humans.

24 Jan 2008

Prostatitis - one of the most common urologic diseases in the U.S

Estimates on the number of males in the United States who will experience prostatitis during their lifetimes range up to 50 percent.

21 Jan 2008

New research advancements in the treatment of premature ovarian failure

Scientific Director of the Meharry Center for Women's Health Research and a team of researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch and the University of Saskatchewan have recently discovered that the gene mutation believed to be a possible cause of premature ovarian failure may be corrected when an adenovirus compensating for the mutated gene is introduced. Findings were reported in the recent issue of Molecular Human Reproduction.

15 Jan 2008

Male infertility - epigenetics may be the underlying cause

Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) suggest epigenetics, or the way DNA is processed and expressed, may be the underlying cause for male infertility.

13 Dec 2007