Fertility News and Research

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Lifetime tool for families created through sperm donation

Starting a family the "old-fashioned way" is becoming less common. Only 25% of American households are made up of a husband, wife, and a child. The fertility field is continually growing with advances in scientific technology, and infertile patients have more options for conceiving -- including the use of donor sperm. Along with the medical advances comes the continual need for emotional support for both the parent and children.

14 Jan 2011

Vitrolife receives patent protection for Swemed Sense needle in European markets

Swemed Sense™ is a unique needle that is used for the collection of oocytes in connection with IVF. The approved patent means that Vitrolife has both design protection and product patent protection for Swemed Sense™ in strategically important European markets. A patent has also been applied for in other prioritized markets.

14 Jan 2011

BPA more harmful to women with hormonal and fertility imbalances

A recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), found higher Bisphenol A (BPA) levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) compared to controls. Furthermore, researchers found a statistically significant positive association between male sex hormones and BPA in these women suggesting a potential role of BPA in ovarian dysfunction.

13 Jan 2011

Scientist develops FMR1 genetic blood test for predicting IVF outcomes

A researcher at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has helped to develop the first genetic blood test for predicting the chances that in vitro fertilization will lead to a successful pregnancy.

13 Jan 2011

CE mark approves Vitrolife's SpermFreeze Solution

SpermFreeze Solution, which is used for freeze storage of sperm, has obtained a CE mark and is thereby approved for sales within the European Economic Area.

12 Jan 2011

FDA accepts Merck's JANUMET extended-release formulation NDA for type 2 diabetes

Merck today announced that the New Drug Application (NDA) for the Company's investigational extended-release formulation of JANUMET for type 2 diabetes has been accepted for standard review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Company is also moving forward as planned with regulatory filings in countries outside the United States.

12 Jan 2011

Proposed health research agency for UK

According to the Academy of Medical Sciences, a new body to regulate all health research in the UK should be established. The authorities suggest that the current regulatory system was dysfunctional and thus hampering medical advances and they blame red tape for the decline in the UK’s share of clinical research. The report suggests creating a Health Research Agency that would make approving projects quicker and cheaper. According to Health Secretary for England, Andrew Lansley, the government would consider how the recommendations could be implemented.

11 Jan 2011

Shady Grove Fertility and Cade Foundation grant help paralyzed patient and wife deliver healthy baby boy

Shady Grove Fertility Center is pleased to announce the birth of Collin James Sharp, born December 8, 2010 to Jennifer and David Sharp of Richmond, VA. The 7 lb. 15 oz baby boy's birth was made possible through a partnership of Shady Grove Fertility and the Cade Foundation.

11 Jan 2011

OraSure to introduce QuickFlu test for detection of type A and type B influenza

OraSure Technologies, announced today the impending launch of the OraSure QuickFlu Rapid Flu A+B Test, a U.S. Food and Drug and Administration approved in vitro rapid qualitative test for the detection of influenza type A and type B, including H1N1 viral infections.

11 Jan 2011

Fertile women gravitate toward males with masculine facial features

When their romantic partners are not quintessentially masculine, women in their fertile phase are more likely to fantasize about masculine-looking men than are women paired with George Clooney types.

11 Jan 2011

Get examined during National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer in women worldwide, yet it is almost always preventable – with the Pap test, the HPV test and the HPV vaccine. That's what the Pearl of Wisdom Campaign to Prevent Cervical Cancer wants women to know – and share with their mothers, daughters, sisters and friends.

7 Jan 2011

Study compares treatment cost of PID hospitalizations, ER care for teen girls

Hospitalizing teen girls with pelvic inflammatory disease costs six times as much as treating them in the emergency room, and up to 12 times more than treating them in an outpatient clinic, according to a small study conducted at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

6 Jan 2011

The Surrogacy Lawyer discusses role of yoga in helping women cope with infertility

Most of the public knows her as the suffering Mary Alice Young who speaks to the audience from the afterlife as the narrator of ABC's hit Desperate Housewives. But they may not know about Ms. Strong's many other important roles as an advocate for fertility awareness, as a pioneer in developing fertility yoga programs and as a wife and mother whose journey to conceive her second child transformed her life.

4 Jan 2011

New options in fertility preservation for oncology patients

Many young people who've just learned that they have cancer also are told that the therapies that may save their lives could rob them of their ability ever to have children. Infertility caused by chemotherapy and radiation affects a sizable population: Of the 1.5 million people diagnosed with cancer in 2009, nearly 10 percent were still in their reproductive years.

4 Jan 2011

New women’s health policy inadequate

The Gillard government is being criticized for issuing a women’s health policy without announcing more funding for struggling women’s services. This is the first national women’s health policy in 21 years that claims to ensure women “have access to the right healthcare at the right time”.

30 Dec 2010

First “saviour sibling” procedure successful

In a first, a nine year old girl received tissue donated by her 18-month old brother Max who was created specifically so that he could aid her medical treatment – a procedure termed as “savior sibling”. This is the first time that the procedure has been under the supervision of British researchers from IVF onwards.

27 Dec 2010

Scientists pinpoint brain site where leptin hormone may trigger onset of puberty

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have pinpointed a tiny site in the brain where the hormone leptin may help trigger the onset of puberty.

23 Dec 2010

Most Australians don't approve of IVF or abortion for sex-selection

Most Australians do not approve of IVF or abortion for sex-selection purposes, and most do not think a hypothetical blue or pink pill to select the sex of a child should be legal, a new study has found.

23 Dec 2010

Later onset of puberty associated with malnutrition, earlier onset to childhood obesity

The timing of the onset of puberty is linked to levels of nutrition: later onset is associated with malnutrition, while earlier onset is linked to childhood obesity. A team of researchers, led by Carol Elias, at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, has now generated data in mice that run counter to current thinking about the molecular pathway by which nutrition status affects the onset of puberty. Further, the team defines a new regulatory pathway for the process, which, if confirmed in humans, could potentially lead to new approaches to treating disorders of puberty and fertility.

23 Dec 2010

Merck announces FDA approval for GARDASIL against HPV-related anal cancer

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved GARDASIL® [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16, and 18) Vaccine, Recombinant] for the prevention of anal cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 and for the prevention of anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) grades 1, 2 and 3 (anal dysplasias and precancerous lesions) caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18, in males and females 9 through 26 years of age.

23 Dec 2010