Researchers analysed the health records of 61,208 deliveries in 2005 in Ontario, Canada. They found babies born through assisted reproductive technologies (ART) – which include in-vitro fertilization (IVF), ovulation induction and intra-uterine insemination – were about 60% more likely to develop birth defects as those born through natural conception.
Of the 1394 ART births in the study, abnormalities were most likely to be gastrointestinal, though there was also an elevated occurrence of bone, muscle and heart-related defects.
While the increase in relative risk was large, the absolute birth defect rate in ART babies was still relatively low at 2.62%, compared to 1.87% for naturally conceived babies. IVF had the highest rate of defects among ART methods, at 2.97%, while the defect rate was 2.66% for intra-uterine insemination and 2.19% for ovulation induction.
In perspective
Darine El-Chaar at the University of Ottawa, who led the study, says this represents little threat to parents looking to have babies using ART. “It’s important to put this in perspective – the risk of premature birth and low birth weight in ART babies is much more real.”
Nonetheless, the fact that an explanation for the increase in birth defects remains elusive makes the new findings significant. Some scientists point to the medications prospective mothers take to induce ovulation as a potential culprit while others blame an as-yet-unidentified aspect of a couple’s natural infertility.
“What is it about spending three days in a laboratory that causes these children to have birth defects?" asks Richard Paulsen at the University of Southern California, US. "It isn’t anything we understand physiologically.”
One possible answer could be the disruption of DNA imprinting, a process that controls how genes are expressed. Imprinting is crucial in the initial stages of embryonic development, Paulsen says. The difference between being in a womb environment and that of a test tube for three days could potentially account for the rise in defects, he adds.
The research was presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's conference on pregnancy in San Francisco, US, on 9 February 2007.
Source: http://www.newscientist.com/channel/sex/dn11185-ivf-increases-the-risk-of-birth-defects.html
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In women who stop ovulating before reaching the age menopause would normally begin, a condition referred to as "premature ovarian failure," who want to become pregnant, pretreatment with estrogen before stimulation of the ovaries improves the likelihood of ovulation, according to a report in the journal Fertility and Sterility.
The results of treatment to induce ovulation in women with premature ovarian failure have been poor, explain Dr. Massimo Tartagni and colleagues from Universita di Bari, Italy. The researchers explored the hypothesis that treatment with estrogen before ovarian stimulation could improve the response of the ovarian follicles.
Among 25 women pretreated with estrogen, 9 developed a follicle at least 18 mm in diameter before human chorionic gonadotropin was administered to stimulate ovulation, the researchers report. Eight of these patients ovulated.
In contrast, only 3 of the 25 women who were not pretreated with estrogen (the control group) showed scant follicular growth during ovarian stimulation and none of them ovulated.
Four of the 8 estrogen-pretreated women who ovulated were able to conceive, the researchers note, and all 4 delivered at the end of pregnancy.
Twenty women who were in the control group were then pretreated with estrogen, and 4 ovulated. Therefore, the overall ovulation rate was 32.4 percent among 37 patients who had not ovulated for more than 6 months.
The researcher suggest that for women with premature ovarian failure, ovulation induction after estrogen pretreatment should be attempted before they're referred to an egg donor program.
SOURCE: Fertility and Sterility, April 2007.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_48753.html
The following data is from 100 self-reporting Pre~Seed Users, responding to an internet request for information in May and June, 2005. This is a self responding survey, and there are no controls for comparison (i.e. couples not using Pre~Seed) so it is NOT in any way a scientific study. But it has some interesting information!
These self reported findings include:
31% of respondents became pregnant using Pre~Seed. This broke down into pregnancies in:
30% of couples who had been trying for 0- 2 months;
40% of couples trying for 3-6 months;
23% of couples trying for 7-12 months; and
31% of couples trying for one year or more.
This is in comparison to population studies suggesting a maximum pregnancy rate per cycle of 30% in presumed “fertile” couples over the first 2 cycles which then declines over the following cycles (Zinaman et al. Fert Ster 1996).
65% of these became pregnant in the first two cycles of use, and 35% became pregnant after 3 or more cycles of use.
51% of our users started using Pre~Seed after they had been trying to conceive for 7 or more months, and 54% of all folks who became pregnant had been trying to conceive for 7 or more months before they started using Pre~Seed.
The pregnancies reported resulted in:
17% a boy,
19% a girl,
35% reported no gender,
29% had a lost pregnancy (miscarriage), including early “chemical” losses.
The gender difference is likely not significant. The miscarriage rate is very consistent with pregnancy losses reported in other studies (31% - Wilcox et al, NEJM, 1988; 33% - Wang et al Fert Ster, 2003).
25% of all couples using Pre~Seed had undiagnosed infertility, 26% had diagnosed male factor issues, and 34% had diagnosed female factor issues. Further, 25% were taking Clomid, and 16% other fertility medications.
For couples that became pregnant, this was 15% undiagnosed, 19% male factor, 23% female factor, with 21% on Clomid, and 21% on other fertility medications. 45% mentioned no infertility diagnosis.
84% of users liked “the way Pre~Seed feels” well enough to want to use it as their regular lubricant, if a more cost effective version were available for non-fertile times.
65% of users disliked the cost - this of course varied on if the couple had become pregnant or not!!! And 50% disliked that it wasn’t in a regular drugstore chain.
70% of you liked 6 or more applicators in a box; however, about 25% of you wanted a new “intro pack” size for people trying the product for the first time.
ING is working in response to your input. We have introduced a new 3-pack box. We are also restructuring our pricing, and have decreased the suggested retail price for the 6-pack by 23% to $16.99. The new 3-pack will sell for $8.99.
Later this year, we also plan to introduce Pre’ Vaginal Lubricant for use during your non-fertile times. It will be for external application, will have less of the bioactive plant antioxidant in it, and will not have each lot tested to ensure “sperm-friendliness” as is Pre~Seed.
Finally, we are writing grants to look at pregnancy outcomes in randomized, controlled studies and to evaluate cervical mucus interactions with Pre~Seed to better understand the role Pre~Seed plays in sperm transport, based on your interest in knowing “does it replace fertile cervical mucus”.
Dr. E
Source: http://www.ingfertility.com/FAQs.html#Final_Pre~Seed_User_Survey_Report__
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Ovarian follicle development is a complex process that begins with the establishment of what is thought to be finite pool of primordial follicles and culminates in either the atretic degradation of the follicle or the release of a mature oocyte for fertilization. The use of transgenic mouse models has provided a great deal of information with regard to the mechanisms underlying ovarian development and follicle growth. The data obtained from these models may provide clues about the reasons for abnormal reproductive conditions in humans, as multiple genes shown to regulate folliculogenesis and fertility in mice have been shown to play a role in human reproduction.
Introduction
During the past several years, studies using transgenic mouse models have revealed novel information about the genes that control the processes of ovarian differentiation, formation of the primordial germ cell pool, primordial follicle formation, growth of follicles from the primordial to antral stage, and ovulation. Recently, many of these studies have been described in detail by Barnett et al., 2006, and are summarized below. In addition, studies have focused on the steroid hormones and growth factors that control ovarian development and follicle growth.
Rest of article: http://ovary.stanford.edu/Litt/transgenicmousemodels
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in cervicovaginal fluid characteristics to identify ovulation.
STUDY DESIGN: Several ovulation indicators were studied in a university-based natural family planning center. Fifteen parous women during 29 ovulatory cycles detected cervicovaginal fluid at the vulva. They self-aspirated their upper vaginal fluid, described it, and kept it for later checking. They also took basal body temperature, collected timed first morning urine samples for estrone and pregnanediol glucuronide enzyme immunoassays, and submitted to serial ovarian transvaginal ultrasound scans.
RESULTS: Considering a +/-1-day period since ultrasound ovulation detection or allowing an extra day (-1 to +2), women perceived ovulation from cervicovaginal fluid at the vulva in 76% or 97% of cycles, on the basis of their visual description of vaginally extracted fluid in 76% or 90%, which rose to 90% or 97% for the instructor's description, and in 76% or 86% with a rapid drop in glucuronide ratio. Basal body temperature was less precise (71% or 79%).
CONCLUSION: Evaluation of cervicovaginal fluid changes is an accurate ovulation indicator.
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=16021061&dopt=Abstract
“It's wonderful. It's wonderful,” Frieda Birnbaum, who delivered healthy baby boys on Tuesday, said during a live interview from a New Jersey hospital.
“I think those people need to get ready for what's coming up in our society. Whenever there's anything new, people cannot comprehend or have difficult getting comfortable ... There are a lot of middle-aged women [having babies] — 40s, 50s, now I just turned 60. That's going to be acceptable. They have to just keep up with what's going on with society.”
Birnbaum and her husband of 38 years, New York attorney Ken Birnbaum, traveled to South Africa last year to a center that specializes in in-vitro fertilization of older women. The procedure was a success. It surprised no one more than Birnbaum's obstetrician, Dr. Abdulla Al-Khan.
“ ‘Wow!’ was my reaction. I had a little difficulty believing she was pregnant, until we confirmed it with ultrasound,” Al-Khan told TODAY anchor Meredith Vieira.
Birnbaum's adult children had trouble believing it, too. Alana Birnbaum, 29, told the New York Daily News that she was against her parents' decision to have another child so late in life.
“She's youthful for her age but I don't think it's good,” Alana Birnbaum told the tabloid. “She should be going to the gym and taking time for herself — not taking on more stresses and responsibilities ... Am I happy at all about this? No. I'm not,” she said.
Her choice
Asked about her daughter's comment by Vieira, Frieda Birnbaum said the decision was hers and her husband’s to make, and she hopes someday her daughter — and others — will realize how much freedom modern women have and feel empowered by it.
“I hope I'm a role model for my daughter, that when she gets older she can make her own decision based on who she is, rather than what society dictates,” Birnbaum said.
The boys, who tipped the scales at 4 pounds, 11 ounces each when they were delivered by C-section within minutes of each other at the Hackensack University Medical Center, are doing well. The couple named them Jake and Jared.
The Birnbaums also have two other sons — ages 33 and 6. Frieda told Fox News that part of the reason for her decision was that she wanted her younger child to have siblings closer to his age.
Al-Khan cautioned that having children late in life is risky for mother and child. He recommended that anyone considering it consult a physician first, become informed and seek out counseling to make sure late-life motherhood is what they really want.
“I can't be judgmental about that. This has taught me to be very open-minded,” Al-Khan said.
Earlier this year, a woman in Spain delivered twins at age 67, believed to be a world record. Birnbaum is believed to hold the title of oldest new mom in the United States.
Birnbaum and her sons are scheduled to leave the hospital on Saturday.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18841574/?GT1=9951
METHODS: Patients less than 40 years of age were invited to participate in a twin centre prospective double blind randomized placebo controlled study. A total of 290 patients were recruited and computer randomized using sealed envelopes to receive either 1 mg dexamethasone (n = 145) or placebo tablets (n = 145) in addition to a standard long protocol gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogue with gonadotrophin stimulation regime.
RESULTS: A significantly lower cancellation rate for poor ovarian response was observed in the dexamethasone group compared with controls (2.8 versus 12.4% respectively, P <>Further comparisons between the dexamethasone group and controls were made of median fertilization rates (60 versus 61% respectively, NS), implantation rates (16.3 versus 11.6% respectively, NS) and pregnancy rate per cycle started (26.9 versus 17.2%, NS). The benefit was apparent in patients both with polycystic and normal ovaries.
CONCLUSION: Low dose dexamethasone co-treatment reduces the incidence of poor ovarian response. It may increase clinical pregnancy rates and should be considered for inclusion in stimulation regimes to optimize ovarian response.
Source: http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/16/9/1861
Answer: In a 5 yr study of 11 women (Baker & Bellis, 93), sperm loss after intercourse ("flow back") was observed - Flow back occurred 94% of the time, with an average loss of 35% of the sperm. It is totally normal and is not a sign that there is anything wrong. It is more pronounced the larger the ejaculate volume, and remember ejaculate quantity is impacted by "how turned on" your husband is. So if you have a great session, or it has been awhile seeing doing the deed, there will be more.
The sperm that penetrate into the cervical mucus begin to do so within 1.5 min, and they are pretty much done by 30 minutes, with no gain in sperm numbers in the cervical mucus or Fallopian tubes after 45 min from intercourse. Only thousands of the millions of sperm ejaculated in the vagina make it to the cervix and only hundreds of these make it to the Fallopian tube!
The very best of the best get there, the rest get washed out - it is OK!
Dr. E
Source: http://www.ingfertility.com/FAQs.html
It is a sobering statistic. Nearly one in five couples struggles with infertility.
Adrianne Diaz, Fertility Patient: "I have been actively trying, i would say , for about - for about the last year and a half, two years."
Janette Walker, MD/John Muir Ob-Gyn: "A lot of times it's unexplained, we can't really find a good reason why they can't get pregnant."
Adrianne: "They put me on Clomid and again I tried it and it didn't really work."
After two months of failed fertility drugs, Adrianne is coming to her doctor's office to try a new fertility device called the conception kit.
Walnut Creek ob-gyn Janette Walker says the concept is simple. After intercourse using a special condom semen is immediately transferred into a cervical cap.
Dr.Walker: "You pinch it shut and then you place it vaginally against your cervix and then it stays against your cervix for 6-8 hours."
Dr. Walker: "Basically it brings the sperm a higher concentration of the sperm much closer to the cervix, so more sperm can get into the uterus and find their way to the woman's egg and increase her chances of getting pregnant."
Eldon Shriock, MD, Pacific Fertility Center: "Compared to just placing the sperm in the top of the vagina or in the cervix - some people refer to that as turkey baster - this cap may have some benefit but those techniques probably aren't any more successful than having intercourse if that's an option."
Dr. Eldon Shriock is a reproductive endocrinologist with the Pacific Fertility center in San Francisco.
Eldon Shriock, MD: "They have shown this cup is safe to sperm, They have shown that more sperm will get into the cervix, but what I haven't seen is that it's shown that it will actually improve pregnancy rates."
Dr. Walker: "They did do one trial, in their trial they found that people in the trial, 24-percent of them did get pregnant within the first month. I don't know if all these patients met strict infertility criteria."
The conception kit website says it's FDA-cleared - not FDA-approved. The FDA says, that simply means this kit is similar to other cervical cap devices already on the market.
Dr. Shriock: "FDA-cleared doesn't mean that this has been approved or proven to improve pregnancy rates."
He believes more sophisticated fertility techniques work better.
Dr. Shriock "Compared to the more common form of helping which is placing the sperm into the uterus which is called intrauterine insemination using the cap is less than half as effective."
But - intrauterine insemination is much more expensive.
Dr. Walker: "It's $300 dollars for the kit which is good three cycles versus intrauterine insemination can be up to a couple thousand dollars."
Dr. Walker feels the kit has a place in fertility treatments.
Dr. Walker: "They could try this as a first step - this would be a first step treatment kind of for them before we go up to the more invasive, more expensive procedures."
Adrianne agrees
Adrianne: "You can do it in your own home, it's private and you don't have to feel awkward about it, and so that's the most important part to me."
And she's hoping this kit will be the key to getting pregnant.
To learn more about conception kits, click here
Source: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=drive_to_discover&id=5326616
Thursday May 17, 2007 - Guardian Unlimited
What is the bill about?
The draft bill will overhaul the law on fertility treatment, such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF), and embryo research, including human-animal embryos. It follows a government white paper, published last December, which proposed banning the creation of chimeras - an organism consisting of at least two genetically different kinds of tissue - and other kinds of interspecies embryos.
Will it allow the creation of human-animal embryos?
Yes. The draft bill reverses the position of the white paper and will allow scientists to create three different types of human-animal embryos. The first, known as a chimeric embryo, is made by injecting cells from an animal into a human embryo. The second, known as a human transgenic embryo, involves injecting animal DNA into a human embryo. The third, known as a cytoplasmic hybrid, is created by transferring the nuclei of human cells, such as skin cells, into animal eggs from which almost all the genetic material has been removed.
However, the bill does not allow the creation of so called "true hybrids", created by fusing the egg and sperm of humans and animals. The human-animal embryos it does sanction could only be grown in a lab for no more than two weeks. It would also be illegal to implant them in a human. More information on hybrid embryos can be found here.
What else does it say about embryo storage?
The bill extends the statutory storage period for embryos from five to 10 years. If one of the couple involved decided to withdraw their consent to embryo storage, there would be a "cooling off" period of up to a year before the embryos were destroyed. This is intended to help couples to reach an amicable settlement and to have the time to reflect on their decision.
What does it say about embryo selection?
The bill would allow the screening of embryos for genetic or chromosomal abnormalities, which may lead to serious medical conditions or disabilities, or miscarriage. It would also allow doctors to check whether an embryo could provide a suitable tissue match for a sibling suffering from a life-threatening illness. However, it bans the deliberate selection of an embryo with a disease or disorder, such as if two deaf parents wished to have a deaf child.
How does it affect fertility treatment?
The bill also proposes scrapping the requirement for fertility clinics to consider the need for a father when deciding on treatment. This means clinics will no longer be able to deny treatment to lesbians and single mothers out of hand. In practice this will mean regarding a birth mother's female partner as a legal parent. In certain circumstances, a gay male couple will be able to apply for a parental order in surrogacy cases. Same-sex couples can already be recognised as parents where they adopt, and this change extends the same principle.
What does it say about egg and sperm donation?
Donors will be informed if their child is seeking identifying information about them. Donor-conceived children will also be allowed to find out if they have sisters or brothers also conceived through donation, when they reach 18.
What else does the bill propose?
It will also overhaul the regulation of embryo research and fertility treatment. The existing Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, which regulates fertility treatment and embryo research, will be merged with the Human Tissue Authority, which regulates the removal, storage, use and disposal of human bodies, organs and tissue from the living and the dead.
What happens next?
The bill will be subject to scrutiny by an expert parliamentary committee.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/genes/article/0,,2082149,00.html
Published today in PLoS Medicine, the study compares reproductive hormone levels of groups of Bangladeshi women who migrated at different periods of their life. It finds that women who migrated from Bangladesh to the UK during infancy and early childhood reach puberty earlier, are taller, and have up to 103 per cent higher levels of the hormone progesterone as adults in comparison to women who migrated at a later age, as well as those who had remained in Bangladesh. These higher hormone levels could potentially increase a woman's ability to conceive.
Lead author Dr Alejandra Núñez de la Mora, UCL Department of Anthropology, said: "The findings point to the period before puberty as a sensitive phase when changes in environmental conditions positively impact on key developmental stages. Put very simply, the female body seems to monitor its environment throughout childhood and before puberty, to gauge when and at what rate it will be best to mature. It then sets development, including reproductive hormone levels, accordingly. This is an advantage in evolutionary terms, as it makes the best of the resources and energy available for reproduction in any given circumstance.
"Girls who migrate at a young age seem to mature more quickly when they find themselves in an environment where the body has more access to energy. In other words, when they're under less physical strain due to factors like a better diet and general health. When energy is a limited resource, it must be allocated between maintenance, growth, and reproductive functions - the body makes trade-offs within the constraints it experiences. When conditions are better, these constraints are relaxed and more energy is diverted towards reproduction."
The results of this study are relevant not only to Bangladeshi groups, but to other migrant groups and populations in transition worldwide. These findings add to accumulating evidence that humans have an evolved capacity to respond to chronic environmental conditions during growth and to make decisions about how to apportion energy between reproductive and other bodily functions.
Five groups of women were selected and compared for the study. These included women who had grown up in Bangladesh but moved to the UK as adults; those who had moved to the UK as children; second generation Bangladeshi women living in the UK; women who were born and raised in Bangladesh; and a comparison group of women of European descent who were born and raised in the UK. Bangladeshi migrants were chosen for this study because of the long and on-going history of migration to the UK and the general contrasts in conditions between the two countries.
The subjects in each group gave saliva samples over an extended period, to measure levels of the female hormones progesterone and oestradiol. These are key fertility hormones, influencing the female menstrual cycle, pregnancy and embryonic development. Health information and body measurements were also provided by the subjects.
Co-author Dr Gillian Bentley, UCL Department of Anthropology, who directed the project added: "The theory that early environmental factors may affect reproductive function has been suggested previously by anthropologists*, but this field study is the first to use measurements of hormone levels to demonstrate a link between childhood environment and reproductive maturation and function. However, hormone levels are not just relevant to reproduction. The significant increase in progesterone levels that we document in migrant women may result, for example, in higher breast cancer risks in subsequent generations of this community. The potential health implications are far-reaching."
Bangladesh, in South Asia, is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The Bangladeshis who took part in the study were middle class women from the Sylhet District. Although a relatively affluent area of the country, inhabitants still suffer from higher immune challenges, primarily due to poor sanitation and limited access to healthcare. These aspects of the environment in Bangladesh are thought to be responsible for the slower development of the Bangladeshi women who grew up there.
The study was co-authored by Dr Robert Chatterton in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Northwestern University, Chicago who supervised the laboratory work, and Dr Osul Choudhury of the Sylhet Osmani Medical College, Bangladesh who co-ordinated research with Dr Núñez de la Mora in Bangladesh.
-- The paper 'Childhood Conditions Influence Adult Progesterone Levels' is in the latest edition of PLOS Medicine, doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040167
-- Dr Gillian Bentley and Dr Alejandra Núñez de la Mora conducted this research while working for UCL's Department of Anthropology. They both now work at Durham University.
-- *This theory was developed by Professor Peter Ellison, founder and principal investigator of Harvard University's Reproductive Ecology Laboratory.
Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=70913&nfid=crss
Women who are worried they may be too busy during their most fertile years to have children have a new resource to ease their worries. Canada now has its first clinic offering women the option of storing their eggs while they're young to use to get pregnant later.
The ESRM Biotech centre is offering healthy, fertile women the option of freezing and storing their eggs while they are young and not yet ready or able to have a family.
The clinic administers fertility drugs to their clients to have them produce multiple eggs, they then harvest the eggs through a small surgical procedure, freeze the eggs and store them in cryopreservation tanks.
Later, when the woman is ready to become pregnant, the eggs can be thawed, fertilized with sperm from her partner, and transferred to the uterus as embryos.
Such services already exist for both men and women who are at risk of losing their fertility, such as those about to undergo chemotherapy for cancer. But this is the first clinic in Canada that will offer the service for a fee for healthy, fertile women who are concerned they may have to delay pregnancy.
Many women who have heard their biological clocks ticking know that they can't fight biology. It is well documented that women's fertility drops slightly around 27 and then drops significantly after age 35.
In fact, age is the single most important factor affecting infertility and the chance of miscarriage, which is why so many older women have trouble getting pregnant.
"I see patients coming to me at age 38, 39 and their hearts are broken," says Dr. Essam Michael, the clinical director at ESRM Biotech.
"A frozen egg at age 31 or 32 is better than a fresh egg at 41 or 42."
Crystal Houser is planning to use the service. She may be just 20 and a student but she is thinking ahead. She wants to freeze her eggs so that she can focus on her career now and have her young eggs preserved for when she's ready to become a mother.
"I have the opportunity. I have the eggs, so there's no reason why I shouldn't do it," she told CTV News.
Renee Hegi also plans to use the service. She's 32 and wants to have a child but has not yet found the right partner.
"If I don't meet someone until I am 38, then I still have my eggs there," she says. "It gives you insurance."
The cost of the service is around $5,000 -- a small price to pay, say the women, for the choice of extending their biological clock until they decide they are ready to have children.
But some ethicists say this is a controversial trend. They worry that the trend will create a generation of older parents.
"I do worry this is a technology that will allow you defy menopause," says Francoise Bayliss of Dalhousie University.
"And thinking of a much older woman getting pregnant in her 50s or 60s, that is a self-centred way of looking at a family."
Health Canada says it is reviewing the practice of egg freezing. The reproductive technology will be considered a "controlled activity" under the 2004 Assisted Human Reproduction Act and will have to be licensed.
If Health Canada concludes that the technology is still "somewhat risky," it could curb the number of clinics licensed to freeze eggs.
Source: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070516/freezing_eggs_070516/20070516?hub=TopStories
She might be 40, 50 or even 60. No matter. Tessa will simply pop along to the "baby bank" where her eggs have been stored in a deep freeze and make a "withdrawal".
An egg will be fertilised and planted into her womb. Nine months later, she hopes, she will give birth to her "ice baby".
Two months ago, Tessa, 37, became one of the first women in Britain to have eggs taken from her ovaries and frozen for no other reason than the fact she wants nothing to interfere with her career.
"I have half a dozen on ice in a freezer," she says. "I feel liberated, as if a weight has been lifted from me. I truly believe it will turn out to be a wonderful investment.
"It means I don't have to worry that I will be too old for babies.
"I can devote time to my career, take my time finding Mr Right and know that when I deem the time is right, even if I am menopausal, I can still have my own baby."
Tessa is one of the first of her kind but experts predict putting fertility on ice will become common-place within the next ten years.
Full article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=454273&in_page_id=1879
Background: Controlled ovarian hyper-stimulation (COH) in combination with intrauterine insemination (IUI) has been shown to result in significantly higher pregnancy rates compared to un-stimulated (natural cycle) IUI [1]. This may however not be true in all ages.
Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study and analysed data collected prospectively on 1759 IUI cycles in couples with unexplained infertility. The results were analysed to show the outcome of IUI with COH, and IUI in natural cycle (unstimulated), in younger women compared to their older counterparts.
Results: In women age 37 and younger, COH resulted in a significantly higher pregnancy rate (13.0% vs 6.5%) and live-birth rate (10.7% vs 5.2%) compared to natural cycle IUI (p = 0.025, p = 0.045 respectively). However for older women age >37 years, natural cycle (unstimulated) IUI, resulted in a significantly higher pregnancy rate (12.0% vs 8.5%) live-birth rate (7.5%vs 3.5%) than IUI with COH (p = 0.0037). This difference is even more significant when COH was performed with clomiphene citrate (7.5% vs 2.1%) (p = 0.0017).
Conclusion: COH was associated with a lower live birth rate in older women, irrespective of the agent used, and it seems to be worse when the anti-oestrogenic drug clomiphene citrate was used for COH. Older women may benefit more from natural cycle (unstimulated) IUI. A randomised controlled trial is required to confirm this observation.
Source: http://www.springerlink.com/index/M40X2HK348U80841.pdf
Researchers at the McGill Reproductive Centre in Montreal say Noorfatima Khan, now a healthy 10-month-old, is the first baby in the world known to be born of an egg that had not only been frozen, but that had never ripened inside of a woman. The process allowed Kiran Wasi, the mother, to undergo in vitro fertilization without taking standard fertility drugs.
Scientists say the birth, which is to be announced at the World IVF Congress in September, is a triumph in the expanding international efforts to pioneer fertility treatments that rely on fewer drugs and will be safer, easier and cheaper for the women and couples who need them.
Standard IVF treatments require a woman to pump herself with powerful, pricey hormones to produce multiple mature eggs at the same time, instead of the one egg a month that ovaries normally release. Only mature eggs can be successfully fertilized with a man's sperm.
But as part of a continuing clinical trial, McGill researchers collected immature eggs from Ms. Wasi's ovaries, matured them in the lab, froze them for two months and in September of 2005, thawed and fertilized them in a lab dish with the sperm of her husband, Amir Khan.
McGill researchers in 1999 reported Canada's first birth with a lab-ripened egg, a technique known as IVM, or in vitro maturation. In 2005, they announced the country's first birth with a frozen egg. But they say that this is the first time anyone anywhere has achieved a live birth using both technologies together and the combination could have several significant applications.
Full article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070511.wbaby0512/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home
Although humans do not display such a dramatic seasonal variation in fertility, melatonin levels are nevertheless postulated to exert a potentially significant influence on sperm production in men. One study found that compared to healthy controls, men with low sperm counts or the inability to produce sperm have significantly higher levels of melatonin. Researchers postulated that these high concentrations of melatonin may either be a secondary reaction to other hormone imbalances in the infertile men, or may be a primary mechanism that wears away the lining of sperm-carrying tubules in the testes.
Another study of men with reduced ability to produce sperm found that melatonin levels were higher in their semen samples and were associated with decreased sperm progression. In a recent article entitled "Melatonin-dependent infertility," a Finnish researcher suggests that melatonin may play an "essential" role in sperm formation, and that bright light therapy to suppress melatonin concentration may be a helpful treatment for infertile males and females who exhibit melatonin imbalances.
The Comprehensive Melatonin Profile evaluates melatonin activity over the complete light-dark cycle, providing a circadian analysis that can uncover imbalances linked to male infertility.
Source: http://www.gdx.net/assessments/finddisease/infertilitym/melatonin.html
_______
Two women were told their FSH was too high and their only chance of success was to consider an egg donor. One of these women got pregnant while looking for the egg donor, the other got pregnant while trying to save up enough money for the procedure (last time I saw her, she was about 8 months pregnant with her second!)
_______
One woman (43) developed an ovarian cyst after being on fertility drugs. She was forced to take a break and got pregnant while on her "break" (she went on to have a normal pregnancy and delivered a healthy baby boy on her 44th birthday - a homebirth!)
_______
One woman finally adopted and shortly thereafter got pregnant, had a healthy baby boy and is currently pregnant again (just saw her at her son's first birthday party!)
_______
And...of course there's me, the "longshot" of the group - pregnant naturally with one tube and delivered normally at the age of 44.
_______
It's interesting that a group of women labeled "infertile" (by the medical definition) turned out to be quite fertile indeed! The BBC news published an article (also on my website) that seems to raise the question of whether or not some couples are really infertile or perhaps just impatient:
Undue IVF pressure put on couples (BBC News)
So, if you're considering fertility treatments, maybe you should consider a little longer. The best treatment may be no treatment.
- posted by Sandy Robertson at "Infertility-Fertility Over 40" - Overcoming Infertility, Miscarriage & Recurrent Miscarriage Over 40, Naturally
Source: http://infertility-fertility.blogspot.com/2006/06/did-we-all-jump-into-fertility.html
For the generation that's brought Canada's fertility rate to below replacement levels, such idylls can only become increasingly rare. With 1.5 children per couple, our best hope is a quiet death in a clean facility where the immigrant workers speak our language. And that's only the human face of demographic decline. The economic face is hardly more appealing: unfilled labour markets, reduced GDP and no tax revenues to pay for health care -- to name a few.
Canada isn't the only country in this predicament. According to America Alone, Mark Steyn's self-described and penetrating rant on "demography, Islam and civilizational exhaustion," the developed world has gone from 30 per cent to 20 per cent of global population. Greece has 1.3 births per couple -- the "lowest low" from which no society has ever recovered; Russia, where 60 per cent of pregnancies are terminated, has the fastest-growing rate of HIV in the world and, by 2050, 60 per cent of Italians will have no brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts or uncles. In the developed world, only the United States, with a 2.1 birth rate, is replacing itself.
How did it come to this? In Canada, one answer is infertility. This affects one in every 15 Canadian couples (in Britain one in six are affected), who spend some $30 million a year on in-vitro fertilization alone. Defined as failure to conceive after one year of trying, infertility can result from many factors affecting both males and females, but according to the government of Canada's Biobasics website, the two biggest factors are delayed childbearing and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
Full article: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=e44b454d-ba4b-46c7-bf96-2170057b6d4a
The discovery, by Professor Jock Findlay from Prince Henry's Institute and Associate Professor Jeff Kerr from Monash's Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, has sparked controversy among biologists and challenged the theory, held for more than 50 years, that female mammals are born with a finite number of oocytes (eggs).
Two years ago, international researchers speculated that mice could continue to produce eggs throughout puberty and adulthood. Although their speculation caused debate throughout the scientific community, the scientists could not produce evidence to confirm their idea. However, Professor Findlay and Dr Kerr's research gives support to the theory. Their findings have been published in the July issue of Reproduction.
In the mammalian ovary, reproductive cells called oocytes (eggs) develop within ovarian follicles. In humans, the eggs are believed to die off from late in foetal life, after birth and into adult life. When egg numbers decline towards zero females can no longer reproduce, resulting in the condition we know as menopause.
Professor Findlay, Dr Kerr and their colleagues have found that the total number of eggs in young and normal healthy adult female mice do not decline over time and that overall egg number is maintained for longer than previously thought. Their research suggests that mice have a source of renewable oocytes, Professor Findlay said.
"The mechanism behind renewable oocytes is still unknown," he said. "Although other scientists have suggested that the new eggs come from stem cells in the bone marrow or the ovary, we really don't know and further experimentation is needed to find out."
Dr Kerr said the phenomenon of egg regeneration in mice did not necessarily mean the same happened in humans. "But the mechanism could provide direction for ovarian stem cell research and help women with fertility conditions," he said.
One in six Australian couples faces some form of infertility. Due to the limitations and sensitivity of human ovaries, few studies have been conducted into the factors that influence egg survival, growth or death in relation to fertility.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-07/ra-fha070406.php
When the irregular periods appear, that means that the periods will come later then usual, or will come more frequently – every 24 days instead of every 28. There can also happen for you to skip a month and then go back to normal for several months, then skip two periods in a row and so on. You may also experience a light period that lasts only few days, and then, the next month, a very heavy bleeding. Shorter cycles come because the follicles are developing faster.
This happens because you produce lower levels of estrogen during your preovulatory stage, and the FSH levels are higher than normal. Because you don’t produce enough estrogen to build up your uterine lining, extremely light periods can come, but this can be also because of an anovulatory period. Extremely heavy bleeding is a sign of an anovulatory period, but estrogen builds up the uterine lining in the absence of enough progesterone. The uterine lining keeps building up until the production of estrogen drops off and the lining is shed.
You must know that as you get closer to menopause, your menstrual cycle usually lengthens, you may begin skipping periods, and, the bigger change that may happen – you will stop having periods altogether. It is important to know that cancer, polyps, non-malignant tumors, or fibroids can provoke some irregularities in your menstrual cycle.
In premature menopause, there can appear infertility problems. This may happen even if you still have your period, and believe everything is perfect normal.
Hot flashes, also known as the trademark symptom of menopause are estimated to affect 75 to 85% of American women when they are in menopause. It is known that hot flashes can start with a hot, prickly feeling in the middle of your back, the skin temperature can rise up to 8 degrees, your pulse shoots up, and you start sweating as your body tries to cool itself down. Sometimes, your face, neck and chest turn pink or deep red, and you may also get the night sweats, which is the nighttime version of hot flashes.
Hot flashes can be controlled by HRT, by herbs, vitamins, natural supplements, and other methods, but you should also try to reduce stress, limit the intake of caffeine, alcohol and spicy foods, exercise, wear natural fibers, layered and loose-fitting clothing, and in order to stay cool at night, drink cold water at the first time of a sweat, and use cotton sheets and cotton nightclothes. Vaginal tissues start drying and become less elastic when your estrogen levels drop. Sex becomes uncomfortable and you may become more prone to infections. The vagina will take longer to become lubricated and it may atrophy. You may also find that it takes longer to get sexually aroused, and that sexual stimulation may become unpleasant. Sex can become uncomfortable, and even painful. It is important to know that this symptom of the menopause is treatable, and it’s often completely reversible.
To deal with this problem, you can start the standard estrogen replacement therapy, you can use an estrogen ring designed to help with vaginal dryness and atrophy, a vaginally-inserted estrogen cream, but you can also have more sex, use a lubricant to help with the loss of lubrication (vitamin E – a capsule inserted in the vagina helps with lubrication), and avoid antihistamines and certain decongestants and anything that can irritate or dry your vagina.
Like your vagina loses muscular tone and elasticity when estrogen production lags, the same thing happens to the lower urinary tract. You may have to urinate more frequently or you may have urinary stress incontinence. Because the lining of the urethra becomes thinner and the surrounding muscles weaker, when you press stress on your bladder- for example when you cough, sneeze, laugh- you may release a tiny bit of urine. It is important to visit your doctor if you experience severe incontinence.
Sometimes, a great degree of bladder control difficulty can be related to another problem that has nothing to do with the early stages of menopause, and we can also mention that frequent urination can appear because of a bladder infection or diabetes. That is why, it is important to be consulted by a doctor to see exactly what you are dealing with.
If you are having this bladder control problem, you can take estrogen, try Kegel exercises, which will strengthen the muscles around the vagina and bladder opening, and also reduce the intake of caffeine and alcohol. It is known that insomnia may be connected to the menopause. Scientists say that the frequency of insomnia doubles from the amount you may have had before you entered premature menopause, and also women begin to experience restless sleep 5 to 7 years before entering menopause.
HRT and alternative therapies work well in dealing with this symptom, and you can also drink herbal tea before going to bed, avoid alcohol, caffeine and cigarettes before bedtime, and keep your bedroom cool. Even if some doctors say that menopause has nothing to do with weight gain, there are studies that indicate hormone levels are tied to weight gain and redistribution of fat. In order to cope with this symptom, you can opt for HRT or other natural alternatives, and also changes in diet and exercise can do well.
Because your estrogen levels drop, the collagen production slows down too, and as a result, you will see that your skin gets thinner, drier, flakier, and less youthful-looking. Unfortunately, this sign often shows up early in menopause, so you may look a little older than you used to. In order to see a definite improvement, you must increase your estrogen levels through HRT or phytoestrogens like soy or flaxseed. You must also remember (in what concerns the so-called collagen enriched crèmes) that collagen must come from within in order to work on your skin, and not to be applied from without.
Because of the dropping estrogen levels, there can appear headaches, and many women with regular menstrual cycles get headaches just before their periods or at ovulation. So, because the production of estrogen slows down due to premature menopause, you may experience these hormonally- induced headaches, but you can also experience that if the progesterone levels are too high in relation to your estrogen levels.
If low estrogen causes the headaches, you should take estrogen, and you can also try anti-inflammatories, certain herbs, and if the headaches are crippling the doctor may prescribe anti-migraine medication. There can appear breast tenderness, which can last for days and weeks and you will feel your breasts tender to the touch and swollen.
You may also experience gastrointestinal distress and nausea - which can manifest with gas, indigestion, heartburn, and you can also experience tingling or itchy skin - you will have a feeling like some bugs are walking all over you, or you will have a burning sensation like an insect sting.Connected to the estrogen deficiency is the hair loss or thinning - you will notice hair in your brush, your hair will get drier, or you will notice a thinning or loss of pubic hair. Because of low estrogen levels, the mucous membranes will dry, and there can appear a bitter taste in your mouth and bad breath.
For more resources about menopause or about male menopause please review http://www.menopause-info-guide.com/male-menopause.htm
Article Tags: Menopause, Male Menopause
Author: Groshan Fabiola
About the Author:
For more resources about menopause or about male menopause please review http://www.menopause-info-guide.com/male-menopause.htm
Source: Free Online Articles from www.ArticlesBase.com
A woman's chances for a healthy birth using her own eggs, depending on age are 40% in the late 20s, 30% at age 37 and 10% at age 42.
For women using donor eggs the live birth rates are kind of the same. For a woman aging between 30 and 45, the chances for a successful birth when using donor fresh embryos, are around 47%.
The percentage of live birth using fresh, newly fertilized embryos is around 33 while that of fertilization using frozen embryos is 10 points lower. Yet, the frozen embryos might be preferred because this method is less expensive and less invasive for a woman.
The transfer of the embryo and the risk for multiple pregnancy
Increased risk of multiple pregnancy means that more embryos are implanted into a woman's uterus. The same thing also increases the chances for conceiving. A woman aging more than 35, which uses her own eggs for implant, needs more embryos than a younger woman doing the same thing.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine, which wishes to keep multiple pregnancies to a minimum level, recommends that women under age 35 have no more than three embryos transferred, women age 35 to 40 have no more than four, and women who have had repeated failed cycles or are over age 40 have no more than five embryos transferred. Other researchers recommend no more than two and three in the younger age groups respectively, and encourage doctors to use less than the maximum if a woman's eggs appear to be of good quality.
In the case of women who passed the age of 40, doctors recommend the use of younger donor eggs because their own have a low rate of success.
Before deciding how many embryos to implant in your uterus, the doctor will advice for the best options pending on all the factors involved. You will most likely have this conversation with your doctor before the treatment begins and again before the implantation. In case if more than 2 embryos will be implanted, you will probably be advised on the multi fetal reduction pregnancy to increase the chances for a healthy pregnancy and healthy child
Article Tags: Information, Infertility, Male, Treatment
Author: Ruben Knisely
About the Author:
What is infertility ? Facts about male infertility and available infertility treatment
Source: Free Online Articles from www.ArticlesBase.com
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A review of the latest research in sexual adaptation shows that evidence is building for what researchers call "sperm competition." According to a review appearing in Current Directions in Psychological Science, physical and behavioral sexual characteristics exhibited by human males indicate that males have evolved to deliver their sperm more effectively to females with multiple partners.
"Although many people are familiar with the idea of animals competing for mates before sex occurs, through mating displays such as bright feathers or butting antlers, we are finding more evidence that there is also competition after mating occurs," says author Todd K. Shackelford. "An alternative way of thinking about it is that there is not only competition between males for mates, but competition between males for fertilization."
The research presented in the review covers physical adaptations, including penis shape and style of intercourse, as well as behavior in response to perceived infidelity that all serve to increase the success of fertilization. "The studies have shown that when partners are separated for periods of time, males are more likely to arouse easily, produce more sperm, and even rape their partners," says Shackelford. According to Shackelford and co-author Aaron T. Goetz, this does not mean that women are promiscuous by nature, but it is evidence that humans are not naturally a monogamous species.
Shackelford is quick to point out, however, that females are not passive partners in the sexual relationship. "Although this review focused on male adaptations, sexual conflict between males and females produces a co-evolutionary arms race between the sexes, in which an advantage gained by one sex selects for counter-adaptations in the other sex."
Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=70317&nfid=crss
Prof Gedis Grudzinskas of HFEA also does believe this is a major shift, and says this procedure will still be used primarily to prevent major defects that would cause a family major distress: "We will increasingly see the use of embryo screening for severe cosmetic conditions," he said. While he uses modifiers like "major" and "severe," Grudzinskas also said he might consider licensing such a screening for problems as minor and as common as asthma or ginger hair color.
Critic David King, the director of Human Genetics Alert, responded to this decision by saying: "Philosophers love to deride the idea of a slippery slope, but here it is in practice. We moved from preventing children who will die young to those who might become ill in middle age. We now discard those who will live as long as the rest of us but are cosmetically imperfect." It's a brave new world.
Source: http://www.parentdish.com/2007/05/08/british-clinic-to-begin-screening-embryos-for-cosmetic-defects/
Michigan-based researchers have found that too much or too little environmental exposure to the mineral manganese can reduce sperm quality and quantity, perhaps leading to male infertility.
Manganese is found naturally in the environment and is also released into the air from mining and manufacturing operations and from combustion of gasoline additives.
"Human exposure to ambient levels of manganese is universal and mainly occurs via air and dust exposures," Dr. Julie J. Wirth from Michigan State University, East Lansing and colleagues note in a report in the journal Epidemiology.
They point out that trace amounts of manganese are needed for normal sperm function, but high levels have been shown to harm male fertility.
The researchers measured blood levels of manganese in 200 men visiting infertility clinics in Michigan between 2003 and 2005.
They found that men with high manganese levels had a greater than 5-fold higher likelihood of low sperm motility, meaning that less than 50 percent of their sperm were moving. Men with high manganese levels were also 2.4-fold more likely to have low sperm counts.
Low blood manganese levels were also associated with low sperm motility and concentration, although not as strongly. It makes sense, Wirth's team writes, that low manganese might adversely affect sperm, given that this mineral plays a critical role in many metabolic processes, including reproduction.
The findings, Wirth told Reuters Health, "are important because the high manganese level was at or above the normal range for manganese in blood ... while the low level was within the normal range, suggesting that low ambient levels of manganese are a potential risk factor for poor semen quality."
SOURCE: Epidemiology, March 2007.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_48422.html
However, research conducted by Joanna Ellington in WSU Spokane’s Health Research and Education Center is changing our understanding of human fertility.
Ellington describes the knowledge gap: “Throughout the past two decades, you have had medical textbooks teaching that sperm survive one to three days [in women]. There is no original source or study that provided this information —it’s just there. On the other hand, scientific journal articles were looking at real-life conception rates for people with long intervals — six days or more —between intercourse and ovulation.” She is now working with Spokane-area physicians, whom she describes as enthusiastic collaborators, to solve this contradiction.
Ellington credits her background of research in large-animal veterinary medicine for the fresh perspective she brings to questions about human fertility and reproduction. In contrast to studies of people, a great deal has been learned over the past decade about how sperm are stored in females of other species. This has been done in part by use of an in vitro coculture system Ellington developed while working on her doctorate at Cornell. This system grows cells from the Fallopian tube (oviduct) of a female animal in a petri dish. Sperm will then interact with these oviduct cells when cocultured with them, simulating what happens in the tube itself.
Comparing sperm function in this coculture system to what is seen in tubes removed surgically from animals has allowed Ellington and others in her field to map out where exactly sperm are stored in the female and how long they live for each species. Sperm survival time in domestic animals ranges from two days in cows to a week or more in horses and dogs. Such knowledge has helped optimize the production of normal offspring.
Recently, in collaboration with Ray Wright of the Department of Animal Sciences and Spokane-area physicians, Ellington has modified her coculture system to study human sperm in contact with tubal cells. Her results suggest that many of the assumed details about human reproduction are incorrect. Her research team’s record for survival of human sperm is 10 days — far longer than the one to three days your doctor will tell you about — and sperm appear to be stored directly in the Fallopian tubes, as well as in the cervix.
Ellington and co-workers have now begun studies to determine whether sperm stored in the tube for longer time periods are damaged. Some earlier research found that couples in whom the time between coitus and ovulation was extended — that is, in whom fertilization occurred from “aged” sperm in the woman’s body — had an increased incidence of children with chromosomal defects.
So far, they have found that sugars and proteins made by the tubal cells actually protect sperm from any breakdown or DNA damage during coculture. In fact, contact of sperm with the tubal cells allows sperm to live longer and maintain normal function two to three times longer than sperm in salt solutions in the laboratory.
“The Fallopian tube is not just a passive ‘pipe’ where sperm and eggs meet,” says Ellington. “Fallopian tube cells make a whole new set of products when sperm attach to them, and these products protect sperm and allow them to live at the internal body temperature of the woman, as opposed to living in the scrotum of men, while they wait for an egg to appear.”
Ellington and co-workers are currently isolating these tubal factors for use in clinically assisted reproduction techniques to improve reproductive outcomes for procedures like artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization, which currently fail more than half the time. The oviductal product they are developing yields selective attachment of sperm with better quality DNA than those normally retrieved using currently available products. Use of this product will thus improve the quality of the embryos fertilized with that sperm.
“You’re not going to stop the rapid adoption of new clinical techniques, because people want babies. So we need to improve the outcomes,” Ellington says. “There has been little FDA testing or efficacy data compiled on products currently in use—products which are often intended for scientific research, not for wholesale use in humans.”
Ellington’s previous research in collaboration with Sylvia Adams Oliver, associate director of the Health Research and Education Center, has already led to one product that has helped produce healthy babies. Quik Wash, licensed by AB Technology, is used to wash sperm prior to clinical procedures. It works twice as fast as similar products and acts to decrease the amount of free radical and chromosomal damage to sperm during handling. Other products for sperm freezing are also being tested, and several patents have been approved. Now Ellington seeks to follow up these commercial successes with further scholarly research on oviductal products and related compounds, so that the environment sperm are exposed to during in vitro procedures will seem more like “home” to them, thus improving their function.
Treating infertility is a $2 billion industry in the United States alone. Increasing positive outcomes—from fertilization to the health of the embryo—will help couples seeking to become parents. Understanding the mechanisms of reproductive physiology may also lead down the road to improved methods of contraception, helping couples who seek not to become parents.
Ellington’s research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Source: http://www.wsu.edu/NIS/Universe/sperm.htm
This one has independent dealers in Australia:
All On Health
http://allonhealth.com/natural-progesterone-infertility-sub.htm
and there MUST be drs prescribing it in Australia, because I found this:
Quote:
NATURAL HORMONES IN AUSTRALIA
Natural hormones, including progesterone, are a prescription-only item in Australia.
Compounding Pharmacy
MJ Health & Beauty, 103 Isabella St, Wingham, NSW, 2429, Australia, Ph: 1300 66 90 45, http://www.mjhealthandbeauty.com.au
Went to their forum and found this (but go read the rest of the postings for more info):
Quote:
You can rest assured that our cream is not a "Wild Yam" cream. We use imported natural progesterone that is structurally identical to the progesterone produced in the female body.
Your doctor will advise you as to the usage instructions. We supply the cream with a small "spoon" to help you get a measured dose.
Our most common products are 2% and 4% 100g creams. They are in a macadamia base, which we believe to be the best base we have found so far.
Postage costs are the same Australia-wide: $5.50 for orders under $55.00, otherwise free.
http://www.mjhealthandbeauty.com.au/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10
Their product ranges from $20-$35 AUS
http://www.mjhealthandbeauty.com.au/shopdisplayproducts.asp?Search=Yes
Who Can Adopt? http://www.acceptadoptions.org/whocanadopt.html
China's latest restrictions on who can adopt:
1. No one on antidepressants
2. No one making under 80K a year
3. No one obese
4. No one older than 50
5. No single parents
A baby is not guaranteed, my step-brother and his wife went through 3 failed adoptions before they received their son. After many miscarriages, stillbirths, failed IVFs, moving on to adoption can be more than a couple, or single parent, can handle emotionally.
Adoption can be beyond a person's financial means. Adoption often costs MORE than IVF.
Some really want to raise a child from infancy, and there are not many newborns available. Here in Ontario, it can mean a wait of 5-8 years! There can be the fear that the birth parents will want the baby back. There can be concern about the kind of prenatal care the mother received. Did she drink or smoke?
There can be a great deal of grief at giving up your dream of how your family would become, before people are ready to move on to adoption. It's not just, well that didn't work, let's adopt!
Adoption is incredibly difficult and extremely invasive. Some can't deal with the invasion of their life, their home, their morals, their beliefs - to prove themselves fit parents when others can get pregnant easily, without thought, and without "permission".
"And it's not like you just pop back to being just like the fertile couple once you bring your child home. There are life long issues with adoption. Adoption is hard and it is not the right choice for everyone. How a couple chooses to build their family is a very personal decision. When the traditional option for family building is ripped away from you and all the other options are riddled with scarring difficulties, you quickly realize that you had no idea what infertility was like and that it is not as simple as "Why don't you just adopt."
ANSWER: What I have read is that it is the synthetic progesterone that may cause problems, but the bio-identical progesterone is safe. Provera is a synthetic progesterone.
Warnings about SYNTHETIC progesterone:
Quote:
Warnings (Possible side affects of medroxyprogesterone acetate, including Provera):
* Increased warnings of birth defects such as heart and limb defects if taken during the first four months of pregnancy
* Beagle dogs given this drug developed malignant mammary nodules.
* Discontinue this drug if there is sudden or partial loss of vision.
* This drug passes into breast milk, consequences unknown.
* May contribute to thrombophlebitis, pulmonary embolism, and cerebral thrombosis.
Source: http://www.yourlifesource.com/estprog.htm
But bio-identical progestone is considered safe:
Quote:
NATURAL PROGESTERONE - THE SAFE ALTERNATIVE
Natural progesterone is not progestin, although many physicians believe they are the same thing. The difference between the two is two-fold:
1. Natural progesterone starts with a plant extract and, through fermentation and other steps, is converted to a substance that has the same molecular structure as the progesterone produced by the human body.
A progestin can start with the same plant extract, but is converted to a molecular structure that is not of the same molecular structure produced by the body.
2. According to Dr. Lee, when natural progesterone is used in servings of up to 40 mg per day, there have been no reported side effects, other than occasional menstrual spotting.
As noted above, there are many side effects of progestins.
Dr. John Lee has used natural progesterone for 15 years in his clinical practice and currently travels worldwide speaking on natural progesterone. Dr. Lee has published two books on natural progesterone -What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause and Natural Progesterone: The Multiple Roles of a Remarkable Hormone - and a number of articles on natural progesterone in peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Lee notes, "In the fifteen years since (I have started using natural progesterone in my practice), I have seen the consistent benefits and the safety of natural progesterone therapy." (2)
Dr. Lee also comments on a study done by Hargrove et al. "When Hargrove et al., compared oral progesterone with medroxyprogesterone acetate (Provera) in combined hormonal therapy with estrogen for menopausal women, they found superior symptomatic improvement, an improved lipid profile, amenorrhea without endometrial proliferation or hyperplasia, and no side effects in the group given progesterone." (2)
The Hargrove study Dr. Lee quotes also states that of the ten women given estrodiol/progesterone (natural progesterone) none experienced side effects and wished to continue the therapy, while two of the ten women using conjugated estrogen and medroxyprogesterone acetate requested discontinuation due to side effects. The study itself notes that, "Most significantly, the adverse effects of synthetic progestins on lipoproteins and cholesterol were eliminated by using natural progesterone." (3)
Dr. Lee concludes his technical book, Natural Progesterone: The Multiple Roles of a Remarkable Hormone, by saying, "because of its many benefits, its great safety, and particularly its ability to oppose the carcinogenic effects of estrogens, natural progesterone deserves far more attention and application than generally given in the prevention and care of Womens Health today. "(2)
Studies support Dr. Lee's assertions on the efficacy and safety of natural progesterone - An article in the May, 1996 issue of Pharmacotherapy concerns the administration of a micronized form of natural progesterone. The authors of the study comment that "Most of the problems that accompany progestins could be avoided or profoundly reduced if natural progesterone could be administered …." They go on to say, "This oral product has been effective and safe in women with absent ovaries, premenstrual syndrome, and premature labor, and for postmenopausal hormone-replacement therapy." (4)
An article in the March, 1985 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology discussed how progestogens (progestins) and natural progesterone affect high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in estrogen replacement therapy. It notes that "natural progesterone had no apparent influence on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol or its subtractions and may develop into an attractive alternative to synthetic progestogens." (5)
Source: http://www.yourlifesource.com/estprog.htm
Quote:
Medical evidence shows that the benefits of using natural progesterone include:
1. Prevents Endometrial cancer
2. Helps prevent breast cancer
3. Protects against fibrocystic breasts
4. Stimulates osteoblast bone building. (Osteoporosis Reversal)
5. Helps use fat for energy
6. Natural Diuretic
7. Natural antidepressant
8. Restores sex drive (Libido)
9. Normalizes zinc and copper levels.
10. Facilitates thyroid hormone action
11. Normalizes blood sugar levels
12. Normalizes blood clotting
13. Restores proper oxygen cell levels
14. Precursor of corticosteroids (Arthritis)
15. The concentration of Progesterone in brain cells is 20 times higher than in the blood serum levels. Dr John Lee in his book addresses the significance of progesterone and it’s connection to
a) restoration of the thinking powers of the elderly
b) elimination of depression after childbirth
c) reduction of the severity of brain injury
d) fetal brain development
e) improved sleep patterns
16. Babies whose mothers received natural progesterone show improved intelligence (reported by Dr Katherina Dalton). Other investigators report that progesterone babies have strong, serene independent characters. (Ref - Progesterone in Orthmolecular Medicine – Dr Ray Peat)
17. Research relating to the significance of progesterone levels and
a) it’s remarkable effect on enlarged prostates and prostate cancer in men. Books and research papers on this subject are about to be published.
b) serious surgery. Researchers have reported on and documented the dramatically improved prognosis for patients undergoing serious surgery.
Source: http://www.progesterone.nu/natural.asp
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