Conception News and Research

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E-cadherin may regulate up to 25% of genes within embryonic stem cells

A protein molecule that 'glues' cells together and so has a key role in cancer is also responsible for many other important functions of cells, a new study has found.

15 Jul 2011

Gum disease linked to infertility

According to experts gum disease may reduce the chances of getting pregnant. Poor oral health is as bad for fertility as obesity - delaying conception by about two months says latest research.

7 Jul 2011

Clearblue Digital Ovulation test safe, non-invasive for women trying to conceive

Dr. Jayne Ellis, Director of Scientific and Medical Affairs at SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Geneva, Switzerland, makers of the test, explained that it consisted of a digital reader and urine test sticks, which could detect the surge in luteinising hormone (LH) that triggers ovulation.

5 Jul 2011

Periodontal disease can affect woman's chance of conceiving

Professor Roger Hart told the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology that the negative effect of gum disease on conception was of the same order of magnitude as the effect of obesity.

5 Jul 2011

Women can have successful pregnancy after recurrent miscarriage

In a subset of the ALIFE study, which investigated the effect of aspirin alone or combined with low-molecular-weight heparin, compared to placebo, on the live birth rate in women with unexplained RM, the researchers looked at the length of time between the moment of randomisation to the moment of the first day of last menstruation before the subsequent pregnancy.

4 Jul 2011

New insight into oocyte chromosome abnormalities

Ovarian stimulation undertaken by women of advanced maternal age receiving fertility treatment may be disrupting the normal pattern of meiosis - a critical process of chromosome duplication followed by two specialised cell divisions in the production of oocytes and sperm - and leading to abnormalities of chromosome copy numbers that result in IVF failure, pregnancy loss or, more rarely, the birth of affected children with conditions such as Down's syndrome, which is caused by the inheritance of three copies of chromosome 21.

4 Jul 2011

Changes in individual sport performance linked to physiological laws

Geoffroy Berthelot and Stephane Len, both researchers at the IRMES, have published their findings in AGE, the official journal of the American Aging Association, describing the evolution of performances in elite athletes and chess grandmasters.

2 Jul 2011

Woman can more accurately identify man's sexual orientation during peak ovulation

A new study by psychologists at the University of Toronto and Tufts University shows that a woman can more accurately identify a man's sexual orientation when looking at his face, when she is closest to her time of peak ovulation. Further, having romantic thoughts or a mating goal heightens a woman's ability to discriminate between straight and gay men.

23 Jun 2011

ACS honors Los Angeles general surgeon with 2011 Jacobson Innovation Award

George Berci, MD, FACS, FRCS, Ed. (Hon), a general surgeon from Los Angeles, CA, is the recipient of the 2011 Jacobson Innovation Award of the American College of Surgeons.

13 Jun 2011

Mothers' B vitamin intake protects children against intestinal tumors

Mice born to mothers who are fed a diet supplemented with B vitamins are less likely to develop intestinal tumors, report scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University.

10 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

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

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

Woman's risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy can be identified seven years before

A woman's risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy can be identified up to seven years before she becomes pregnant based on routinely assessed measures of blood sugar and body weight, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the online issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

30 May 2011

Folic acid during pregnancy reduces rate of colon cancer in offspring

Folic acid supplements given to pregnant and breast-feeding rats reduced the rate of colon cancer in their offspring by 64 per cent, a new study has found.

27 May 2011

Taking prenatal vitamins early during pregnancy can reduce risk of having children with autism

Women who reported not taking a daily prenatal vitamin immediately before and during the first month of pregnancy were nearly twice as likely to have a child with an autism spectrum disorder as women who did take the supplements - and the associated risk rose to seven times as great when combined with a high-risk genetic make-up, a study by researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute has found.

26 May 2011

Routine assessment can help predict risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy before seven years

26 May 2011

Insight into obsessive-compulsive disorder

New scientific evidence challenges a popular conception that behaviours such as repetitive hand-washing, characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder, are carried out in response to disturbing obsessive fears.

24 May 2011

State Senators in Minnesota and Iowa pass abortion measures

A pair of bills that would dramatically limit abortion rights passed their final legislative hurdle on Monday and will soon be headed to the governor's desk. The GOP-led Minnesota Senate voted 40-26 to eliminate state funding of abortions for poor women and voted 42-24 to prohibit all abortions 20 weeks after conception.

18 May 2011

Psychological distress affects IVF outcomes

There is no doubt that undergoing infertility treatment is stressful, with high rates of anxiety and depression reported by many patients. Mind/body therapies designed to help women reduce stress earlier in the treatment process result in higher pregnancy rates, but little is known specifically about the impact of these therapies on women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).

10 May 2011