Fertility and pregnancy
Vaginal lubricants may impair sperm quality: study
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Of five vaginal lubricants tested in a study, only one did not significantly decrease the ability of sperm to swim (motility) or the integrity of chromatin—genetic material that makes up chromosomes, researchers found.
Between a third and a half of sexually active couples use vaginal lubricants, they explain, but a number of studies have reported a deleterious effect on sperm quality. “What can a woman use,” they ask, “to alleviate vaginal dryness while trying to conceive, without harming the sperm?”
To investigate, Dr. Ashok Agarwal from the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio and associates evaluated the effects of four commercially available vaginal lubricants (FemGlide, Pre~Seed, Replens, and Astroglide) on sperm motility and the effects of three lubricants (Pre~Seed, K-Y Jelly, and FemGlide) on sperm chromatin integrity.
Cancer pill could affect women’s fertility - report
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Long-term use of the cancer pill Gleevec may produce fertility problems in women, Greek doctors reported on Wednesday.
Chemotherapy and radiation have long been known to damage the fertility of patients, but little is known about more targeted drugs such as Gleevec, known generically as imatinib.
Dr. Constantinos Christopoulos of the Amalia Fleming General Hospital in Athens and colleagues reported on the case of a 30-year-old woman with chronic myeloid leukemia who stopped menstruating after two years of taking Gleevec, made by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.
Breast cancer risk linked with fertility timing
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A longer interval between the age a woman first begins to menstruate and her age when she first gives birth is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, the results of a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology suggests.
Age at menstruation and first birth are “established risk factors for breast cancer,” Dr. Christopher I. Li, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, and colleagues write. The interval between these ages may also influence breast cancer risk because the breast becomes more susceptible to carcinogenic exposure during this period period, they note. “However, few investigators have studied this relation.”
To investigate further, Li’s group used data from the Women’s Contraceptive and Reproductive Experiences Study (1994 to 1998), including 4,013 women with breast cancer and 4,069 women without breast cancer (the controls).
Couples agree on telling kids of donor conception
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Couples who conceive with the help of a donor usually agree on whether to tell their child about it, a study suggests.
In interviews with 141 married couples who had conceived using donor eggs or sperm, researchers found that 95 percent had come to an agreement over whether to tell their child.
Half of the couples said they had never differed in their opinion on the issue; of the other half, most were able to reach an agreement after discussing it, the study found.
Australia Day award for infertility expert
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An infertility expert whose scientific interest was sparked while growing up on a sheep station is among those recognised this Australia Day.
Professor Jock Findlay of Prince Henry’s Institute in Melbourne, has been made an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) for his contribution to the field of reproductive endocrinology.
It is the latest in a line of honours for Findlay, who is one of the original collaborators on a paper in the journal Nature that reported the first successful in vitro fertilisation pregnancy using hormone replacement to prepare the uterus.
Bacterial infections in premature babies more common than previously realized
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Premature babies are subject to a host of threats that can result in fetal/neonatal disease. In a study published in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, researchers from the University of AlabamaЦBirmingham Medical School and the Drexel University College of Medicine found that genital mycoplasmas are a frequent cause of congenital fetal infection. 23% of neonates born between 23 and 32 weeks of gestation have positive umbilical blood cultures for two genital mycoplasmas (bacteria lacking cell walls): Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis.
Although Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis are found in 80% of vaginal and cervical fluids, infants are not generally screened for these bacterial infections. The finding that about one-quarter of early preterm infants is already infected at birth is important in reducing adverse outcomes. These newborns had a higher incidence of neonatal systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), higher incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), higher serum concentrations of interleukin (IL)-6 and more evidence of placental inflammation than those with negative cultures. The earlier the gestational age at delivery, the higher the rate of a positive umbilical cord blood culture.
Pollution shrinks foetus size: Brisbane study finds
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Exposure to air pollution significantly reduces foetus size during pregnancy, according to a new study by Brisbane scientists.
Queensland University of Technology senior research fellow Dr Adrian Barnett said the study compared the foetus sizes of more than 15,000 ultrasound scans in Brisbane to air pollution levels within a 14km radius of the city.
Control of diabetes may prevent infertility
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A Swedish study indicates that the fertility of women with type 1 diabetes was reduced prior to 1985, but since then is its begun to normalize, if diabetic complications were avoided.
“Stricter metabolic control exercised in the past 20 years may have helped prevent subfertility,” the researchers speculate in the September issue of Diabetes Care.
Uterus lining involved in obese women’s infertility
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The lining of the uterus or “endometrium” appears to play a small but significant role in reducing fertility among women who are overweight, Spanish researchers report.
The findings, they say, show that overweight and obese women undergoing infertility treatment with donor eggs should try to lose weight before becoming pregnant, which will give them the best chance of a good outcome.
Use of Selective Serotonin-Reuptake Inhibitors in Pregnancy and the Risk of Birth Defects
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Information regarding the safety of selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in human pregnancy is sparse. Concern has been raised about the risk of congenital heart defects associated with the use of SSRIs in pregnancy.
Methods We obtained data on 9622 case infants with major birth defects and 4092 control infants born from 1997 through 2002 from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Case infants were ascertained through birth-defects surveillance systems in eight U.S. states; controls were selected randomly from the same geographic areas. Mothers completed a standardized telephone interview regarding exposure to potential risk factors, including medications, before and during pregnancy. Exposure to SSRIs was defined as treatment with any SSRI from 1 month before to 3 months after conception. Birth defects were assigned to 26 categories and subcategories.
Doctors offer fertility hope to cancer children
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Doctors have extracted, matured and frozen eggs from girls as young as five in a move that may allow children with cancer to become parents when they grow up, scientists said on Sunday.
Childhood cancers usually result in cure rates of between 70 and 90 percent but the aggressive chemotherapy which is often needed can render children sterile.
Poland wants more babies, hospitals can’t cope
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Heavily pregnant Karolina Mrowiec went to a Polish hospital in an advanced stage of labor and was surprised when the nurse asked her what was wrong.
“I am having a baby. Isn’t it obvious?” she replied.
Her story shows how an overstretched hospital system is struggling as Poland experiences its first baby boom in years.
IVF pregnancies may be happier than natural ones
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Women who conceive through in vitro fertilization (IVF) are just as happy in late pregnancy as women who conceive naturally—maybe even more so, new research from Israel suggests.
It had been thought that IVF moms were more stressed than those who conceived naturally. “A lot of studies have come out and said that they were indeed more anxious and they were having a worse time of it,” Dr. Marsha Kaitz of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the study’s lead author, told Reuters Health. “My paper says that that isn’t necessarily the case. The women that I interviewed were really quite positive.”
It’s Safe for Obese Moms-to-Be to Lose Weight During Pregnancy
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Most women who are obese can safely exercise and diet to lose weight during pregnancy, according to a small pilot study conducted by Saint Louis University researchers.
“Doctors hadn’t encouraged pregnant women who were obese to limit their weight gain or have them lose weight because they were afraid it would hurt the baby,” says Raul Artal, M.D., principal investigator and chair of the department of obstetrics, gynecology and women’s health at Saint Louis University.
Chinese college forces pregnancy tests on students
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A Chinese technical college for boarders has defended compulsory pregnancy tests for students as a responsibility to them and their families, local media reported Friday.
The college in Urumqi, capital of the far western region of Xinjiang, had tested new students for several years and would ask those who tested positive to leave, the Beijing News said, citing students.
