Author: Yiannis

Vitamin D is associated with increased likelihood of pregnancy, livebirth and reduced pregnancy loss

Last modified: December 2, 2018

vitamin D

Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, although the association between preconception vitamin D concentrations and livebirth is unknown.

The study aimed to assess the association between preconception vitamin D and pregnancy outcomes among women with proven fecundity.

The findings were published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology and 1191 women had available data on preconception 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations.

According to the study sufficient preconception 25-hydroxyvitamin D (≥75 nmol/L) was associated with increased likelihood of pregnancy and livebirth. Increased vitamin D concentrations before conception, but not in early pregnancy, were associated with reduced pregnancy loss.

Chemicals in sunscreen may cause infertility

Last modified: October 9, 2018

A new study from the National Institutes of Health finds that chemicals in sunscreens and personal care products that filter out UV rays may lead to infertility issues among men.

According to the study by the National Institutes of Health and the New York state Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center, researchers found that men with high exposure to UV filters BP-2 or 4OH-BP had a 30 percent reduction in fecundity, the biological ability to reproduce. Lower fecundity may result in a longer time to pregnancy.

The researchers studied 501 couples that were trying to conceive a child from 16 counties in Michigan and Texas in 2005 through 2009. The women participants ranged from 18 to 44 years of age, and the men were over 18; none had a medical diagnosis of infertility.

Improved sperm quality and pregnancy outcomes with spermatozoa after a short ejaculatory abstinence.

Last modified: October 10, 2018

Semen samples from men after a short ejaculatory abstinence show improved sperm quality and result in increased pregnancy rates of in vitro fertilization (IVF) cases.

According to the study ejaculates from short (1–3 hours) compared with long (3–7 days) periods of abstinence showed increases in motile sperm count, sperm vitality, normal sperm morphology, acrosome reaction capacity, total antioxidant capacity, sperm mitochondrial membrane potential, high DNA stainability, and a decrease in the sperm DNA Fragmentation Index (DFI).

Severity of congenital heart defects associated with assisted reproductive technologies

Last modified: September 14, 2018

Congenital heart defects and ART

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) has been associated with a higher incidence of congenital anomalies, including a specific increase in the rate of congenital heart defects (CHD). In this study, the rate of CHD in pregnancies resulting from ART at a single high-risk pregnancy referral center are compared to the published literature.
Pregnancies were screened by fetal echocardiography for the indication of ART over a 2-year period. CHD were classified as either mild or severe based on the need for postnatal surgical intervention. Results were compared to findings from a literature review of studies examining CHD in pregnancies resulting from ART since 1980.
The greatest increase in risk appears to be for mild CHD (non surgical), which may inform counseling of patients prior to use of assisted reproductive technologies.

Homosexual Couples: Do They Have Access to IVF?

Last modified: December 4, 2021

Nowadays, there is a large debate going on regarding same sex couples and whether they should have access to IVF.  Bans on homosexual marriage are tumbled across the Western World and a growing number of same sex couples want to build a family, same way heterosexual couples do.

homosexual couples

IVF experience for homosexual couples and typical couples seems to differ, according to homosexual people reports

It is not rare for homosexual men and women to want children. The problem is they have to deal with fertility limitations compared to typical straight couples. Nonetheless, gay parents are already out there and have been for some time. Studies estimate that there are about 594,000 same sex partner households in the USA and one in five same sex couples has children living in their households.

Some of them adopt while others have their own biological children. But how do they do the latter? Donor insemination and surrogacy are two standard ART options for same sex couples. Donor insemination involves using donor sperm. The donor can either be a known person, a friend for example, or an anonymous sperm donor from a sperm bank. Surrogacy applies to people who cannot carry a pregnancy so someone else does it for them.

For gay women an option for conception is one partner to donate the eggs and the other to carry the pregnancy. In that case IVF is necessary since fertilisation will take place outside the body in the lab, before the embryo can be transferred. However, intrauterine insemination is also available as a fertility treatment for lesbian couples; a far simpler treatment where IVF is not necessary.

And what about male gay couples interested in IVF? Gay couples will definitely need an egg donor and a surrogate who can carry the pregnancy. Fertilisation is accomplished by IVF using their own sperm.

But the question is how easy it really is for same sex couples to get access to these IVF treatments? There is no straightforward answer to this matter but, it appears that it is easier than it used to be, since legislative restrictions on surrogacy and egg donation are getting softer in time.

On the other hand, IVF experience for homosexual couples and typical couples seems to differ, according to homosexual people reports. There may be some states where surrogacy is fine for straight couples but not for homosexual couples, giving them a rough deal when it comes to fertility treatment.

Are you in favor of same sex couples building families?

 

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Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). The researchers have found that the syndrome may be triggered before birth.

Last modified: December 4, 2021

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects up to one in five women worldwide, three-quarters of whom struggle to PCOS, polycystic ovary syndromefall pregnant. It can cause symptoms, from infertility to hair growth, pelvic pain, hair thinning or excessive hair growth, and hormonally induced sleep issues, because the cysts affect ovarian function and alter the body’s hormonal balance.
Researchers at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research found that excess levels of a hormone called Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) reprograms the fetus and induces polycystic ovary syndrome in adulthood.
According to the study the team was able to reverse this effect in the mice using an IVF drug routinely used to control women’s hormones. After treatment with this drug, the mice stopped showing symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome.

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Male infertility tools: FISH analysis and DNA fragmentation test

Last modified: December 4, 2021

ART (Assisted Reproductive Technologies) advances have now provided couples with accurate genetic screening tests like FISH analysis and DNA fragmentation test, as diagnostic tools for male infertility aiding them in improving theirs chances of pregnancy.

Infertility is not primarily a woman’s problem, as it is mistakenly believed. It is estimated that infertility for about half of couples is due to a male factor, either alone or in addition to female factors. So, if a couple suffers from infertility problems men should also be evaluated for infertility.

FISH analysis and DNA fragmentation test

FISH analysis and DNA fragmentation tests are diagnostic tools for male infertility

However, the routinely used in IVF clinics semen analysis testing appears to be inadequate in diagnosing the male factor infertility. In many cases couples dealing with conception problems have given a basic semen analysis testing result that is normal in terms of sperm concentration, motility and morphology. Yet the problem remains. In such cases genetic screening tests that can detect genetic abnormalities can be of great help, comprising diagnostic tools of great clinical value.

DNA fragmentation test is a genetic test that according to fertility doctors is associated with every fertility checkpoint and in contrast to conventional semen analysis it can discriminate between the sperm of fertile and infertile men. This test could explain the reason why you are not parents yet as high levels of DNA fragmentation can inhibit a successful pregnancy despite the type of fertility treatment provided. High levels of damaged DNA have been correlated to a series of things like infections, smoking, and exposure to environmental toxic chemicals.

Another quite useful genetic test given in IVF clinics is FISH (Fluorescent In Situ Hybridisation). FISH analysis is a genetic test screening for genetic abnormalities providing information about the sperm chromosomes. It consists of sperm chromosome-specific DNA probes labeled with fluorochromes. FISH is an advanced technique that can now facilitate evaluation of sperm aneuploidy.

Both, FISH analysis and DNA fragmentation tests are diagnostic tools for male infertility that can support a specialized diagnose of male factor especially for couples who have experienced repeated IVF failures and pregnancy loss.

If male factor infertility is the source of your trouble would you advise your doctor on proper genetic testing for improving your pregnancy chances?

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Babies who look like their father at birth are healthier one year later

Last modified: April 5, 2018

Father_baby“Fathers are important in raising a child, and it manifests itself in the health of the child,” said Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at Binghamton University Solomon Polachek. “We find a child’s health indicators improve when the child looks like the father. The main explanation is that frequent father visits allow for greater parental time for care-giving and supervision, and for information gathering about child health and economic needs. It’s been said that ‘it takes a village’ but my coauthor, Marlon Tracey, and I find that having an involved father certainly helps,” added Dr Polachek. The research have been published in the Journal of Health Economics.

167 million people owing their lives to assisted reproductive technologies will have been born by 2100

Last modified: October 8, 2019

ivff populationAccording to present trends, fertility services will continue to grow robustly and the number of births is likely to be much higher than 167 million people.

If the average annual increase is 10,000 or 20,000 births the numbers of people alive that year will rise to 236 or 315 million, respectively by 2100.

At 30,000 more births per year, 394 million people will be alive and represent over 3% of humanity.

Scientists discovered a new critical process for healthy embryo development

Last modified: March 26, 2018

Sembryos ringcientists have discovered a process during mammalian embryonic development that is critical for early embryos to develop into healthy blastocysts.

Transformation from morula to blastocyst is a defining event of preimplantation embryo development. During this transition, the embryo must establish a paracellular permeability barrier to enable expansion of the blastocyst cavity.

Using advanced microscopy techniques and live mouse embryos, the researchers observed rings of actin – a main component of a cell’s cytoskeleton – forming on the surface of the embryo.

The study, jointly led by Dr Maté Biro of UNSW Medicine and Dr Nicolas Plachta of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore, is published in the journal Cell.

Frozen embryo transfer could be better than the fresh one

Last modified: March 19, 2018

frozen embryoA new study carried out by a research team at The University of Western Australia and Fertility Specialists of Western Australia has found that women undergoing IVF who have had embryos fail to implant have more success using frozen ones than fresh ones.

“The study results demonstrate that a frozen embryo implantation is more successful than transferring the embryo straight after the biopsy in a fresh IVF cycle, as the environment within the uterus is more ‘normal’ in a subsequent natural cycle, than during an IVF cycle where the hormone levels are often very high.”

The research was published today in Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol.

Men with low sperm counts are likely to have important co-existing health problems

Last modified: March 18, 2018

infertile men

Men with low sperm counts are more likely to have a number of health issues that put them at increased risk of illness, new research suggests.

A study of 5,177 men found those with low sperm counts were 20% more likely to have more body fat, higher blood pressure and more “bad” cholesterol.

They were also much more likely to have low testosterone levels.

The study’s authors said it showed that men with low sperm counts should also be tested for other health problems.

Dr Alberto Ferlin, who led the study, said: “Infertile men are likely to have important co-existing health problems or risk factors that can impair quality of life and shorten their lives.

The study will be presented at ENDO 2018, the Endocrine Society’s 100th annual meeting in Chicago.

Pioneering treatment with stem cells therapy reverses the symptoms of menopause.

Last modified: March 7, 2018

stem cells menopauseBreakthrough raises the prospect of women having babies in their 50s with stem cells therapy.

Pioneering treatment that reverses the symptoms of early menopause has raised hopes that women affected could go on to have children naturally.

Stem cells from bone marrow were injected into the ovaries of 33 women suffering premature ovarian failure (POF) who began to have periods again after six months.

As well as treating early menopause, which can lead to women becoming infertile in their forties or earlier, it could also offer an alternative to hormone replacement therapy.

Complex structure at the tip of the sperm tail

Last modified: March 7, 2018

New studysperm tail led to the discovery of a novel, complex structure at the tip of the sperm tail that has never been seen before.

Since sperm motility and morphology are determinants of male fertility, understanding the functional role of the TAILS complex may have clinical implications relating to male infertility and contraception.

Male Fertility Declines with Age

Last modified: December 4, 2021

It now appears that women are not the only one who have to worry about their biological clock since male fertility declines with age as well, research reveals. Although, there are differences between male and female fertility, experts now advise male population wishing to have biological children, to avoid losing time. ’’Men too cannot afford waiting forever’’ says Dr. Paula Fettback of the Huntingdon Reproductive Medicine Centre in Brazil.

Male Fertility Declines with Age

At the age of 45 chances of a man to father a child drop to 35%.

Dr. Fettback lead a study focused on the outcome of 570 IVF treatments carried out at her clinic. More specifically, fertility outcome was analyzed for 570 men under fertility treatment from March 2008 to April 2011. In order to eliminate female infertility factors, researchers only studied cases of IVF treatment where eggs from young and healthy women were used through egg donation.  They came to result that in couples who had difficulty in conceiving male age was greater than in couples who achieved pregnancy. Actually, for couples where the man was 41 years old chances of conception were about 60%.

‘’Our investigation showed that for each extra year of paternal age pregnancy chances exhibit a decrease of 7%’’, highlighted Dr. Fettback. Furthermore, at the age of 45 chances of a man to father a child drop to 35% and these chances are dropping even faster in older ages, indicating that male fertility declines with age.

The effects of female age on human reproduction are more or less known. As for men, even though there is data suggesting that male fertility declines with age, the effects of male age factor are not fully elaborated, explains Dr. Fettback.

According to experts, attention should be paid to the fact that a growing number of men globally are following the trend of older parenthood. In Germany, for example, the average age of married fathers has increased from 31.3 to 33.1 in about 8 years. In England, fathers aged 35-54 accounted for 25% of overall child births. 10 years later this percentage reached about 40%.

Since more and more men are now choosing to become fathers in advanced age, a better understanding of male age factor as well as men’s sperm quality renders quite critical for public health.

What do you think? What is the ideal age for fathering a child?

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Acupuncture help IVF success rates

Last modified: December 4, 2021

Nowadays, IVF has become the most common infertility treatment however its success rate is still relatively low. So how can the success rate of IVF be increased? Can acupuncture make a difference? Well according to research, acupuncture may actually be beneficial for couples undergoing IVF.

Acupuncture

According to research, acupuncture may actually be beneficial for couples undergoing IVF

Acupuncture is an ancient therapeutic method, used quite often as a complementary medical practice, based on the use of very thin needles inserted in certain points of the body for treating various medical conditions. Acupuncture, it is believed to help treat medical conditions that affect fertility such as hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, polycystic ovarian syndrome, menstrual cycle irregularities and more.

Several studies in the past have pointed out that women who undergone an acupuncture program in parallel with their IVF treatment had greater success rates than women who did not do acupuncture.
According to one study by researchers at the Maryland Center for Integrative Medicine and the University of Maryland Center for Assisted Reproductive Technology , the VU University of Amsterdam and researchers from Georgetown University which involved a review of 7 clinical trials, women having acupuncture could significantly increase their chances of getting pregnant. Researchers analysed data from over 1.300 women who underwent IVF. They examined the effect of acupuncture given within one day of embryo transfer.

They compared these results with those of women given sham acupuncture and no additional treatment and found “acupuncture group” pregnancy chances increased by 65%. Women participated in the study were of different ages, they were all however given acupuncture sessions (lasted for 25 to 30 min) right before of right after the embryo transfer.

But how could acupuncture help increase fertility and IVF success rates?

According to experts acupuncture supports IVF by:

1. Regulating reproductive hormone levels including FSH and LH
2. Improving the immune system and well-being
3. Increasing utero-ovarian blood flow and consequently improving the quality of the endometrium, promoting embryo implantation
4. Improving the quality of the eggs, necessary for successful fertilisation

So, would you give acupuncture a chance?

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