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.

Fiscal problems could be mitigated by ART conceived children

In 2009, 1,547 ART children were born in public clinics in Denmark, projecting a net tax revenue of -224 million and -247 million in 25 and 50 years respectively. The authors of the study calculated that reductions of 30-50% in ART cycles following the new policy would lead to cost savings of -67 - -111 million for the Danish government in 2034.

6 Jul 2011

Smoking, social class may lead to POF in women

POF is not only associated with infertility but also with significantly increased morbidity and mortality, as well as a decreased quality of life equivalent to that of people with type 2 diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis, said Dr. Rumana Islam, from Imperial College, London, UK.

6 Jul 2011

Researchers investigate predictors for adverse outcome in IVF singletons

In Sweden almost 40 000 children have now been born after IVF, around 3 500 each year, and IVF children constitute 3% of all newborns. "This represents a large number of children and any adverse outcomes related to IVF are therefore a major public health issue," said Dr. Antonina Sazonova, from Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden, who carried out the research with colleagues from the hospital and from Lund University.

6 Jul 2011

Maternal smoking cessation improves perinatal outcomes in children

Low birthweight is the most common negative outcome of smoking during pregnancy, but foetuses exposed to maternal smoking are also at risk of premature birth and the associated problem of brain damage, as well as congenital abnormalities such as cleft lip.

6 Jul 2011

Study: 'Vanishing twin' linked to increased risk of congenital malformations

Professor Michael Davies will tell the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today that the "vanishing twin" phenomenon, in which only one child is born from a pregnancy that originally starts as a multiple pregnancy, is linked to a nearly two-fold increased risk in any congenital malformation and to a nearly three-fold risk of multiple malformations.

6 Jul 2011

Cleavage stage embryo with aneuploidy can undergo genetic normalisation process

Professor William G. Kearns told the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology that a three-day-old embryo with an incorrect number of chromosomes was capable of undergoing "a dynamic process of genetic normalisation" so that by day five, when it had developed to the blastocyst stage, it had become euploid, with the correct number of chromosomes.

5 Jul 2011

Primiparity, maternal smoking and BMI linked to risk of pre-term birth

4 Jul 2011

Early metformin treatment may prevent adolescent polycystic ovary syndrome

A recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that early, prolonged treatment with the diabetes drug metformin may prevent or delay the development of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in adolescence.

30 Jun 2011

Paternal exposure during pregnancy may affect man's ability to father a child

According to the California Teratogen Information Service (CTIS) Pregnancy Health Information Line, more studies are needed to evaluate men and the potential effect of illnesses, medications and lifestyle habits on fertility and pregnancy. For couples suffering fertility problems, the issue is linked to the potential father approximately 50 percent of the time. In close to a quarter of these cases, a specific cause is unknown.

18 Jun 2011

OptumHealth names Women & Infants as Center of Excellence for Reproductive Resource Services

Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island has been named a Center of Excellence for Reproductive Resource Services by OptumHealth, an independent audit company.

18 Jun 2011

Varicocele surgery may increase testosterone production

17 Jun 2011

Low testosterone linked to varicoceles

As many as 15 percent of men have varicoceles, masses of enlarged and dilated veins in the testicles. There is new evidence that varicoceles, long known to be a cause of male infertility, interfere with the production of testosterone -- a crucial hormone to maintaining men's health. There is good news too: Microsurgery can increase testosterone levels in these men. Results of new research by physician-scientists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center are in a recent edition of BJU International.

16 Jun 2011

Bariatric surgery may treat polycystic ovarian syndrome in women of child-bearing age

Obesity has been linked to infertility and now a new study shows bariatric surgery may treat its most common cause, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal imbalance that affects up to 10 percent of women of child-bearing age -- 33 to 50 percent of whom are overweight or obese.

15 Jun 2011

Antimullerian hormone test can help indicate number of eggs, pregnancy in women

Given how much patients invest in in vitro fertilization (IVF), both financially and emotionally, tools to inform couples about what they might expect during their treatment can be welcome. A study by researchers at Brown University and Women & Infants Hospital shows that as the IVF cycle is beginning, a blood test for levels of a hormone called AMH, or antimullerian hormone, can help predict the number of eggs that will be harvested.

10 Jun 2011

Patient enrollment complete in cilengitide Phase III study against glioblastoma

Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, announced today that patient enrollment in the global pivotal Phase III clinical study CENTRIC has been completed.

9 Jun 2011

Non-steroidal, oral contraceptive for men

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center are honing in on the development of what may be the first non-steroidal, oral contraceptive for men. Tests of low doses of a compound that interferes with retinoic acid receptors (RARs), whose ligands are metabolites of dietary vitamin A, showed that it caused sterility in male mice.

7 Jun 2011

Anti-Mullerian hormone test can indicate reproductive function in young women with cancer

A test that shows how many eggs a woman has in her ovaries may help young women with breast cancer know what their reproductive function will be after chemotherapy, a new study finds. The results will be presented Sunday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.

6 Jun 2011

Queen's University develops groundbreaking new test for male infertility

A groundbreaking new test for male infertility, which will save time, money and heartache for couples around the world, has been developed at Queen's University Belfast.

6 Jun 2011

Study links exposure to BPA with lowered male fertility

Daily exposure to a chemical that is prevalent in the human environment, bisphenol A (BPA), causes lowered fertility in male mice, according to the results of a new study that will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.

6 Jun 2011

SpermComet: New test for male infertility

A new test for male infertility will save time, money and heartache for couples around the world, scientists have claimed. Queen's University Belfast said that more than a decade's research by Professor Sheena Lewis, who leads its Reproductive Medicine research group, had delivered a medical breakthrough.

5 Jun 2011