Fertility News and Research

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Prediction of the age of menopause and hence a woman's reproductive prime

UK researchers have shown a strong direct relationship between ovarian volume and the number of primordial follicles (eggs) remaining in the ovaries of women of reproductive age.

16 Jun 2004

Application from the Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life to make human embryonic stem cells

The Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority (HFEA) is currently considering a licence application from the Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life to make human embryonic stem cells using cell nuclear transfer - a technique also known as therapeutic cloning.

16 Jun 2004

What causes polycystic ovary syndrome?

A woman finds herself with excessive facial hair, obesity, menstrual abnormalities, infertility, and enlarged ovaries may have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), an unfortunate condition thought to be caused by excessive secretion by the ovaries of androgen, a hormone associated with male characteristics.

15 Jun 2004

Seasons may be involved in onset of menopause

Research by Hungarian fertility experts published (Thursday 10 June, 2004) in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction, has revealed that the onset of the menopause may not be dictated only by the fact that a woman’s lifetime supply of eggs are running low, but also by changes in the seasons.

14 Jun 2004

Body fat not always bad

With the threat of an obesity crisis looming, a study led by UCL researchers reveals today that fat tissue isn’t always the enemy. Reporting in the journal Science they show that a molecular signalling pathway in fat tissue is an important mediator in extending lifespan.

11 Jun 2004

New British guidelines to protect the safety of frozen sperm, eggs and embryos

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, UK has announced strict new guidelines to protect the safety of frozen sperm, eggs and embryos stored at fertility clinics throughout the UK.

10 Jun 2004

Polycystic ovary syndrome more common than originally thought

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the University of Alabama, Birmingham, have found that a complex hormonal disorder affecting the reproductive and metabolic function of premenopausal women may be considerably more common in the United States than previously believed from earlier, smaller studies.

5 Jun 2004

Fibroid tumors lack crucial structural protein

Fibroid tumors-the sometimes painful uterine growths affecting many American women-lack a key protein that plays a role in holding tissues together, according to a study by researchers from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health

3 Jun 2004

Uterine cancer, also called endometrial cancer, will strike more than 40,000 U.S. women annually

A Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) study, headed by Cornelia Trimble, M.D. of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, has revealed that pathologists who evaluate uterine biopsies disagree 60 percent of the time on whether the specimens contain cancerous cells.

3 Jun 2004

Fibroid tumors affecting many American women lack a key protein helps hold tissues together

Fibroid tumors — the sometimes painful uterine growths affecting many American women — lack a key protein that plays a role in holding tissues together, according to a study by researchers from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.

2 Jun 2004

Louise Redknapp and Ronan Keating on cancer and how it affected them

Singer Louise Redknapp talks exclusively to the NHS about her fears that a fertility-threatening disease could threaten her plans for a family in a consumer-style magazine published today. Louise was diagnosed with endometriosis, a disease in which small pieces of the womb lining grow outside the womb, causing chronic pain and, in many cases, depression and fertility problems.

1 Jun 2004

Cellular garbage plays a key role in the process of cytokinesis, or cell division

A cellular structure discovered 125 years ago and dismissed by many biologists as "cellular garbage" has been found to play a key role in the process of cytokinesis, or cell division, one of the most ancient and important of all biological phenomena.

27 May 2004

More likely that older IVF mothers will suffer a pregnancy loss

It is a widely known that, as women age, it becomes more difficult for them to become pregnant. In a study from the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, researchers documented that it is also increasingly more likely that older IVF mothers will suffer a pregnancy loss, most often due to cytogenetic abnormalities of the fetus.

27 May 2004

Outlaw teen sexuality!

That’s right ban it, make it illegal, against the law, verboten. May is teen pregnancy prevention month. Let’s get real about the problem that is confronting us. The United States now has more teen pregnancies than any other country in the industrialized world. Over 1 million teenagers get pregnant every year and 78% of teen pregnancies are unintended.

26 May 2004

Baby born from 21 year old cryopreserved sperm

"We believe this is the longest period of sperm cryopreservation resulting in a live birth so far reported in the scientific literature," according to one of the authors, Dr Elizabeth Pease, Consultant in Reproductive Medicine at the Department of Reproductive Medicine at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester.

25 May 2004

High levels of environmental pollution may increase the rates of twin births

High levels of environmental pollution may increase the rates of twin births, suggests research in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

25 May 2004

Researchers have identified the first gene linked to the productivity of the stem cells that produce sperm in mammals

Researchers have identified the first gene linked to the productivity of the stem cells that produce sperm in mammals. The discovery was made by applying the latest laboratory methods to a strain of mice restored from embryos frozen since the early 70s.

23 May 2004

WHO to tackle heart disease, diabetes, cancers, road safety as well as diseases

The World Health Assembly, the supreme decision-making body of the World Health Organization, has raised global public health to a new level, by resolving to take more action to prevent death and illness resulting from heart disease, diabetes, cancers, road safety, and lack of access to health services as well as from diseases spread by viruses, bacteria and other dangerous microbes.

22 May 2004

Clinical trial of traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of male infertility

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) researcher Jann Mehmet knows the effectiveness of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine in treating male infertility. Now she is putting her observations to the test in a formal clinical trial of the benefits of TCM, the first time such a study has been conducted in Australia - or overseas.

18 May 2004

Interventional radiologists now are able to treat using minimally invasive procedures

Interventional radiologists at Temple University Hospital now are able to treat many patients with minimally invasive procedures not available only a few years ago. “Conditions that used to require extensive surgery now take an hour or less, and patients leave with a bandaid and walk home,” says Gary Cohen, M.D., Section Chief of Interventional Radiology and Vice Chairman of Radiology. “How can you beat that?”

17 May 2004