Conception News and Research

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North Shore-LIJ begins patient enrollment in epilepsy research study

In the United States, epilepsy affects nearly one million women of childbearing potential and whether there is increased infertility in women with epilepsy is presently unknown. People with epilepsy have been reported to have fewer children, however, the specific factors contributing to this lower birth rate are unknown.

5 Feb 2011

Easier access to emergency birth control increases sexually-transmitted diseases among teenagers

Offering the morning after pill free over the counter has not reduced the number of teenage pregnancies and may be associated with a rise in sexually-transmitted diseases (STIs), according to a report by experts at The University of Nottingham.

1 Feb 2011

NEPAD, GAIN sign Memorandum of Understanding to reduce malnutrition in Africa

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and the New Partnership for Africa Development today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to significantly contribute to reducing malnutrition in Africa.

25 Jan 2011

U.S. Physical Therapy launches Fit2WRK to provide solutions for prevention of injuries in workplace

U.S. Physical Therapy, a national operator of outpatient physical therapy clinics, announced that it has successfully launched a workers compensation and disability initiative called Fit2WRK. Fit2WRK provides an integrated solution for the management and prevention of injuries in the workplace.

20 Jan 2011

Antioxidants may cause fertility problems in females

Antioxidants are sold over the counter everywhere. They're added to food, drink and face cream. But according to Prof. Nava Dekel of the Biological Regulation Department, we still don't have a complete understanding of how they act in our bodies. New research by Dekel and her team, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS), has revealed a possible unexpected side effect of antioxidants: They might cause fertility problems in females.

19 Jan 2011

Bayer's SAFYRAL oral contraceptive receives FDA approval

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new oral contraceptive (OC), SAFYRAL™ (drospirenone 3 mg/ ethinyl estradiol 30 mcg/ levomefolate calcium 451 mcg tablets and levomefolate calcium 451 mcg tablets). In women who choose an OC for birth control, SAFYRAL raises folate levels for the purpose of reducing the risk of rare neural tube defects (NTDs) in a pregnancy conceived while taking SAFYRAL or shortly after discontinuing it.

17 Dec 2010

Research sheds new light on dopamine's role in brain's reward system

Researchers have shed new light on dopamine's role in the brain's reward system, which could provide insight into impulse control problems associated with addiction and a number of psychiatric disorders.

9 Dec 2010

Project Prevention feels it is crucial to educate HIV/AIDS positive women on long term birth control

ON THIS "WORLDS AIDS DAY" we know many things will be discussed, but we're sure birth control will not be one of them. Project Prevention feels it is crucial to not just work towards curing infants with AIDS, but also to work on getting women living with HIV/AIDS on long term birth control to prevent future pregnancies that may result in suffering children.

2 Dec 2010

Doctors treating female epilepsy patients have to consider specific hormonal situation

Doctors treating female epilepsy patients have to take account of the specific hormonal situation in women. Such an approach can often reduce the limitations imposed by the disease. This is the conclusion reached by Sabine Weil of Munich University and her co-authors in the latest issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International

25 Nov 2010

Further studies needed over use of Proton-Pump Inhibitors in early pregnancy

Despite the reassurances of Pasternak and Hviid in their study, "Use of Proton-Pump Inhibitors (PPI) in Early Pregnancy and the Risk of Birth Defects," featured in the Nov. 24 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, an epidemiologist from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) believes that further studies are needed.

25 Nov 2010

Heartburn drugs safe in pregnancy: Study

Pregnancy brings about a lot of heartburn sometimes beginning in the first trimester and continuing until delivery. To date the drugs available for general use in heartburn called proton-pump inhibitors or PPIs were wrought with safety concerns during pregnancy.

24 Nov 2010

Mother’s high-fat diet alters fetal genes that regulate circadian rhythm: Study

The link between sleeping and obesity is drawn tighter as a new research published online in the FASEB Journal study shows that what your mother ate when she was pregnant may make you obese or overweight by altering the function of genes (epigenetic changes) that regulate circadian rhythm.

23 Nov 2010

MU researchers find 70% of Amazonian cultures practiced multiple paternity

In modern culture, it is not considered socially acceptable for married people to have extramarital sexual partners. However, in some Amazonian cultures, extramarital sexual affairs were common, and people believed that when a woman became pregnant, each of her sexual partners would be considered part-biological father. Now, a new University of Missouri study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found that up to 70 percent of Amazonian cultures may have believed in the principle of multiple paternity.

11 Nov 2010

GOP claims Statehouse victories that could set back health law implementation

"The Democrats' ambitious health care overhaul is facing roadblocks from newly elected state officials who harshly criticized it while campaigning and who are now in a position to make good on their promises," Kaiser Health News reports. The GOP made significant political gains in Tuesday's election, taking "Governors' mansions in several states." Among the newly elected governors were Sam Brownback of Kansas, "who called the reform law 'an abomination,'" and Tennessee's Bill Haslam, who called the law "an 'intolerable expansion' of federal power."

4 Nov 2010

Safeguard Scientifics third quarter aggregate revenue of partner companies increases 73% to $109.6 million

Safeguard Scientifics, Inc., a holding company that provides growth capital for entrepreneurial and innovative life sciences and technology companies, today announced that aggregate revenue of its partner companies for the three months ended September 30, 2010 was $109.6 million, up 73% from $63.4 million for the same partner companies in the same period of 2009.

3 Nov 2010

Study finds infertility treatment does not increase risk of cerebral palsy in IVF/ICSI children

Doctors have known for some time that children born after fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) are at increased risk of cerebral palsy. However, it was not known whether this risk was due to the treatment itself, the higher frequency of preterm or multiple births, or a mechanism associated with couples' underlying infertility.

3 Nov 2010

Vitrolife operating income increases 3% to SEK 25 million for January to September 2010

Vitrolife: Growth in local currency was 13 percent. Sales amounted to SEK 217 (207) million, corresponding to an increase of 4 percent in SEK. Operating income before research and development costs increased by 11 percent and amounted to SEK 58 (53) million.

2 Nov 2010

Women with type O blood linked to low egg numbers

In a study presented earlier this week at the American Society of Reproductive Medicine Conference in Denver, researchers at Yale and Albert Einstein College of Medicine measured levels of a chemical called follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in 560 women undergoing fertility treatments and found that those women with type O blood had chemical signs linked to low egg numbers.

30 Oct 2010

Researchers discover microglia cells originates prior to birth during embryonic life

Mount Sinai researchers have discovered that microglia, the immune cells that reside in the brain, have a unique origin and are formed shortly after conception. It was previously thought that microglia originated at the same time as macrophages, which are other immune cells that are thought to develop at birth. This groundbreaking discovery has the potential to lead to future treatments of degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. The study is published online October 21 in Science Express.

25 Oct 2010

Research determine 3D structure of egg receptor molecule that binds sperm

Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have been able to describe the 3D structure of a complete egg receptor that binds sperm at the beginning of fertilization. The results, published in the journal Cell, will lead to better understanding of infertility and may enable entirely new types of contraceptives.

22 Oct 2010