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.

Assisted reproduction rates rise and multiple births decline: Australian report

Latest reports from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show that the number of Australian and New Zealand women giving birth to twins after becoming pregnant with the help of assisted reproductive technology has reduced and may continue its declining trend.

8 Nov 2011

New way to screen hirsutism among women

Examining the chin and upper and lower abdomen is a reliable, minimally invasive way to screen for excessive hair growth in women, a key indicator of too much male hormone, researchers report.

4 Nov 2011

Researchers discover key enzymes that are critical for sperm function

Compared to most other cells in an organism, sperm undergo a radical transformation to become compact and mobile delivery systems for paternal DNA. Even though sperm looks and moves quite differently across species, SF State researcher Diana Chu and colleagues now say that there are at least a few key enzymes that are critical for sperm development and mobility in species as different as mice and nematode worms.

2 Nov 2011

Infertility treatment linked to borderline ovarian tumors

New research shows that women who undergo ovarian stimulation to produce extra eggs for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) are at increased risk for a type of growth known as “borderline ovarian tumors”.

30 Oct 2011

Impact of pelvic inflammatory disease on teen girls underestimated

A Johns Hopkins Children's Center study comparing perceptions of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) among teen girls and parents has found that parents seriously underestimate the emotional and medical impact this sexually transmitted disease has on teenagers.

28 Oct 2011

One embryo is all it takes for a successful IVF: Study

Doctors practicing IVF often transferred multiple embryos to a woman’s body at once, in the hope that at least one of them would lead to a successful pregnancy. That changes now as a new study from researchers at the University of Iowa in Iowa City found that women who had only one embryo transferred during IVF didn’t have lower chances of getting pregnant, but they did have a lower risk of giving birth to twins than women who had multiple embryos transferred.

25 Oct 2011

Ferring reports on FDA approval of labeling supplement for EUFLEXXA to treat knee osteoarthritis

On Oct. 11, 2011, the FDA approved a labeling supplement for EUFLEXXA (1% sodium hyaluronate) that provides 26-week efficacy data from the FLEXX trial, as well as, 52-week safety data to demonstrate the safety of repeated injection cycles.

22 Oct 2011

NIH selects Women & Infants to participate in Pelvic Floor Disorders Network

Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island has been selected by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to participate in the national Pelvic Floor Disorders Network (PFDN). Women & Infants is one of just eight medical centers from across the US, and the only one in the Northeast, to work collaboratively to develop and perform research studies related to women with pelvic floor disorders.

21 Oct 2011

Pioneer Pharma, Innocoll enter license and distribution agreement for CollaGUARD

Innocoll, Inc. announced it has entered into a License and Distribution Agreement with Pioneer Pharma in China for CollaGUARD surgical adhesion barrier for the prevention of postoperative adhesions following abdominal and pelvic surgery.

19 Oct 2011

New DNA-based prenatal blood test can identify pregnancy with Down syndrome

A new DNA-based prenatal blood test that can strikingly reduce the number of risky diagnostic procedures needed to identify a pregnancy with Down syndrome is ready to be introduced into clinical practice.

18 Oct 2011

Scientists discover enzyme that acts as a 'fertility switch'

Scientists have discovered an enzyme that acts as a 'fertility switch', in a study published in Nature Medicine today. High levels of the protein are associated with infertility, while low levels make a woman more likely to have a miscarriage, the research has shown.

18 Oct 2011

Women to use her mother’s womb in Australian medical first transplant

A Victorian woman will be the first Australian to use her own mother’s womb after it has been transplanted into her. Intensive care nurse Melinda Arnold, 34, will undergo a womb transplant after her mother, Denise Allen, agreed to donate the organ to her. Mrs. Arnold, who was born without a womb but with ovaries that produce eggs, twice tried unsuccessfully to use her mother as a surrogate and adoption attempts also failed.

17 Oct 2011

Order of the day – massive calorie cuts for Britons

Andrew Lansley made an announcement that Britain needs to cut 5 billion calories a day from its diet to curb obesity. Lansley urged individuals to eat less and eat more wisely, and promised to talk to the food industry about voluntary cuts in the calorie content of processed food and drinks. The health secretary and the chief medical officer, Sally Davies also issued a “call to action” on diet, pointing out that alcohol contributed 10% to our calorie intake.

16 Oct 2011

Emory researcher provides overview on 'CVD and PCOS' in APS conference

Sarah Berga, MD, former Chair of the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Emory University School of Medicine, is a researcher whose work focuses on understanding the impact of metabolic and psychological stresses on the reproductive system and as a cause of infertility, as well as on PCOS. She will provide an overview of her team's work in a presentation entitled, "CVD and PCOS." Her remarks are part of the Physiology of Cardiovascular Disease: Gender Disparities conference, October 12 at the University of Mississippi in Jackson.

15 Oct 2011

Simmons Center to evaluate CGEN-25009 for treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Compugen Ltd. and the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation announced today that the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation will provide a grant to scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Dorothy P. and Richard P.

13 Oct 2011

Study explores link between BPA exposure and breast cancer

Chronic low-level exposure to a compound found in a variety of plastic household items could pose a threat to women who overproduce a protein linked with breast cancer, say researchers at University of Alabama at Birmingham.

13 Oct 2011

Breakthrough in the study of chlamydia genetics

A breakthrough in the study of chlamydia genetics could open the way to new treatments and the development of a vaccine for this sexually transmitted disease.

13 Oct 2011

Novel link between cell surface sugars, Darwinian sexual selection, and immune function

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say that losing the ability to make a particular kind of sugar molecule boosted disease protection in early hominids, and may have directed the evolutionary emergence of our ancestors, the genus Homo.

11 Oct 2011

Diethylstilbestrol in utero affects immune system of the fetus

A synthetic estrogen — diethylstilbestrol (DES), prescribed to women in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s to prevent miscarriages, had serious, untoward effects in daughters of these women, including the development of a rare type of cancer of the uterus.

11 Oct 2011

Genetics & IVF Institute now offers 24 Chromosome Microarray

The Genetics & IVF Institute is now offering 24 Chromosome Microarray, which is a new, comprehensive test used as part of an IVF cycle to evaluate the number of chromosomes present in an embryo before it is transferred to the mother.

11 Oct 2011