30-01-2012 13:41 There are a wide range of treatments for fertility issues, some of which can be quite invasive. Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to treat imbalances in the body, including fertility issues. This video explores a version of Acupuncture without needless to treat fertility problems.
Younger people are increasingly diagnosed with cancer in recent years. Figures show that 8-10 per cent of cancer patients are below 40 years and 1 per cent is below 20. Cancer in this reproductive age group is a matter of great concern among doctors and patients alike.
Cancer and its treatments — including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy — can adversely affect the patient's ability to conceive a baby. In surgical procedures, reproductive organs are removed when cancer is diagnosed in any part of the reproductive tract, thereby affecting fertility. Chemotherapy has a toxic effect on the oocyte (germ cell involved in reproduction). The extent of damage varies with the dose, the type of drugs used and the patient's age. The risk of infertility from radiation therapy varies with the radiation dose and the area of the body exposed to radiation.
In an attempt to address this double agony of cancer and infertility, doctors are increasingly scouting for fertility preservation techniques for women with cancer.
One of my young patients with ovarian cancer was devastated when she came to know that the treatment could adversely affect her fertility. Fortunately, however, the cancer was in an early stage and we were able to preserve her fertility through the use of conservative treatments (Unilateral Salpingo-Oophorectomy, Omentectomy, and preservation of uterus and opposite ovary). Today her cancer is under control and she is the proud mother of a healthy baby girl.
Unilateral Salpingo-Oophorectomy: Removal of only the fallopian tube and ovary on one side. The uterus and the fallopian tube and ovary on the other side are preserved.
Omentectomy: The partial or complete removal of the abdominal lining, which reduces the risk of cancer cells spreading from nearby organs to the stomach.
Conisation: This involves removing the lesion on the cervix in the form of a cone and testing the margins to confirm that the patient is disease-free. Hence, only the cells affected by the disease are removed.
Radical Trachelectomy: The parametria (tissue adjacent to the cervix) and vaginal cuff (the vagina end close to the cervix) are excised along with the cervix. This surgical procedure is generally accompanied by laproscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy. As the uterus is preserved along with the ovaries, this technique is considered conservative and found effective in ensuring conception and childbirth.
Conservative surgeries are recommended for patients who are young and in the early stage of the disease. Surgeries like conisation and radical trachelectomy are used for cervical cancer, while in endometrial cancer a high dose of hormone is used instead of surgically removing the uterus. For patients undergoing chemotherapy, low-risk drugs are used to help reduce toxicity in the oocyte.
Other methods of fertility preservation in cancer patients include Ovarian Tissue Cryo Preservation, where cortical strips from the ovary are removed laproscopically and cryo-preserved.
This tissue is later implanted in the pelvis to facilitate pregnancy. Cryo-preservation of embryos and oocytes in recent times have yielded satisfactory results.
Despite the progress achieved, preservation of fertility in cancer patients is still an emerging discipline; more awareness is required among oncologists, immunologists and endocrinologists to ensure that patients have the option of fertility preservation at the onset of treatment.
The author is a Senior Consultant, Gynae–Oncology, Action Cancer Hospital
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Almost half of women who said they'd been struggling to get pregnant for at least a year ended up having a baby despite not getting fertility treatment, in a new study from Australia. That success rate was only slightly lower than in women who also reported trouble conceiving and opted for treatment with fertility hormones or in vitro fertilization (IVF). …
In the U.S. there are nearly 100 million laptops. Some researchers say if you are looking to buy your guy one, you should investigate whether or not it will affect his fertility. Marcie Fraser reports.
21-05-2011 00:14 The Fertility Diet: Groundbreaking Research Reveals Natural Ways to Boost Ovulation and Improve Your Chances of Getting Pregnant Jorge Chavarro (Author), Walter Willett (Author), Patrick Skerrett (Author)
15-09-2011 14:03 www.centerforhumanreprod.com – Dr. Gleicher explains early and premature menopause, how it is linked to diminished ovarian reserve and the use of DHEA supplementation for improving ovarian reserve. Dr. Gleicher is a physician at Center for Human Reproduction in New York, NY.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Radioactive “seeds” that are sometimes used to treat early prostate cancer may do widespread damage to the DNA in a man's sperm, a small study finds.
The damage, researchers say, would seem to be enough to make a man infertile. And they should be aware of that going into treatment.
Known as brachytherapy, the treatment involves implanting radiation-emitting pellets into the prostate gland to kill off cancer cells.
Studies have found that brachytherapy is less likely to cause erectile dysfunction than either traditional external radiation or surgical removal of the prostate gland — two other treatment options for prostate cancer.
The prostate gland produces fluid for semen, so surgically removing it leads to infertility. But not as much has been known about the effects of brachytherapy, according to Dr. Neil Fleshner, the senior researcher on the new study.
Studies have suggested that men who undergo brachytherapy often become infertile. But there are case reports of patients who have gone on to be fathers — planned or not.
Many men now have prostate cancer diagnosed at an earlier stage — and at an earlier age — through screening with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood tests.
“More and more prostate cancers are being diagnosed in younger men, and there are more and more older men who still want to have children,” said Fleshner, who heads urology at the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada.
So it's important to give men a clearer picture of what to expect after brachytherapy, Fleshner told Reuters Health.
To help do that, he and his colleagues studied semen samples from five men who'd undergone brachytherapy at least one year earlier, all of whom were younger than 55.
They compared the samples with published data on healthy, fertile men and with information on more than 7,600 infertile men who were part of a large database.
Overall, 46 percent of sperm from the brachytherapy patients had DNA “fragmentation” — genetic damage that, in great enough proportion, would render a man infertile.
By comparison, 13 percent of sperm from fertile men and 20 percent from infertile men had such damage.
All five brachytherapy patients had an abnormally high amount of genetically damaged sperm — “indicating likely infertility in all,” Fleshner's team reports in the Journal of Urology.
Men who are having their prostates surgically removed and still want to have children can opt to bank their sperm ahead of treatment.
Similarly, Fleshner said, “if a man is going for brachytherapy, then sperm-banking may be a good idea.”
But in weighing treatment options, any man has to discuss the benefits and risks of each with his doctor, according to Fleshner.
In general, any prostate cancer therapy can have lasting side effects, like urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction.
And because brachytherapy is used for early-stage prostate cancer, some men who are candidates for it may also be able to delay having any treatment at all.
That's because prostate cancer is often slow-growing and may never advance to the point of threatening a man's life. So many men with early-stage tumors can opt for “active surveillance” — which means monitoring the prostate cancer over time to see if it's progressing.
One study found that more than 120,000 American men diagnosed with prostate cancer every year are ideal candidates for active surveillance.
In reality, though, the majority of those men end up having surgery, radiation or other treatment instead.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/wxNaA6 Journal of Urology, online January 19, 2012.
(Note: This story corrects an earlier version to remove an extra character in SOURCE line immediately above.)
26-01-2012 18:44 This video is about castor oil packs and how it can help your infertility issues and boost fertility! natural-fertility-info.com www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
Public release date: 1-Feb-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Yvonne Lundberg Yvonne.Giwercman@med.lu.se 46-705-977-904 Lund University
Involuntary childlessness owing to reduced fertility is a concern for many men. However, these men do have one advantage ? they run a significantly lower risk of suffering from prostate cancer. Researchers are interested in whether this phenomenon could be used in the fight against cancer.
There is a clear link between male subfertility and a lower risk of prostate cancer. According to a new thesis from Lund University in Sweden, involuntarily childless men have around a 50 per cent lower risk of suffering from prostate cancer than men who have fathered at least one child.
Yasir Ruhayel, a doctoral student at Lund University and doctor at Sk?ne University Hospital, has based his research on the Malm? Diet and Cancer population study, where he has compared around 450 men with prostate cancer with an equal number of men in a control group who had not been diagnosed with the disease.
The thesis reinforces the findings of previous register-based studies, which have shown a connection, but this is the first time the issue has been studied in greater detail. An important conclusion is that the connection between reduced prostate cancer risk and subfertility is stronger than the connection between prostate cancer and other factors previously studied, for example diet, smoking, alcohol consumption and a number of different diseases.
Are there genetic explanations?
Yasir Ruhayel has also investigated whether variation in certain genes may be linked to the reduction in prostate cancer risk observed in the subfertile men.
“We have found certain genetic associations, but the results are preliminary and more extensive studies involving a larger number of men are needed before the significance of the genetics can be verified”, says Yasir Ruhayel.
One of the identified candidate genes is the AHR gene, which interacts with the male and female sex hormone signalling systems. AHR is also known as the 'dioxin receptor' because it mediates the harmful effects of the environmental toxicant dioxin, which can affect fertility.
If future research is able to more accurately determine which genes reduce the risk of prostate cancer, then this may open up new opportunities to develop drugs. However, before this can happen the genes with the desirable properties must be considered in a broader context, because reduced fertility is usually caused by a number of factors. The cancer-blocking properties must also be separated out and isolated from the properties that reduce fertility.
The researchers at Lund University are also interested in the reverse situation ? whether it is possible to find ways of helping men with reduced fertility by studying the genes of men with prostate cancer.
###
Yasir Ruhayel defended his thesis, Male Subfertility and Prostate Cancer Risk: Epidemiological and Genetic Studies, on 27 January.
Link to thesis: http://www.lu.se/o.o.i.s?id=12588&postid=2269342
Contact:
For further information please contact supervisor and research group leader Yvonne Lundberg Giwercman: tel.: 46-70-597-79-04, Yvonne.Giwercman@med.lu.se
Yasir Ruhayel (available from 12 February): yasir.ruhayel@med.lu.se
Yasir Ruhayel is a doctoral student at the Department of Clinical Sciences in Malm?, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University. He is also a medical doctor and a resident in urology at Sk?ne University Hospital in Malm?.
About prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer, affecting more than 10 per cent of Swedish men. Despite the high prevalence and frequently serious nature of the disease, there is still a lack of effective preventive treatment options and long-term cures. The most common diagnostic method is the PSA blood test, which is not generally considered to be a very reliable method. Many men undergo unnecessary operations with the risk of various adverse side-effects, in the view of the critics. Among those treated with 'androgen blockade' for more serious cases of prostate cancer, the cancer often returns within a few years and there is then no effective cure.
About childlessness and reduced fertility
Around one in seven couples have problems conceiving despite trying for at least a year. In roughly half of cases, the childlessness is due to the man's reduced fertility. Childlessness can be explained by both genetic and environmental factors.
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25-01-2012 17:49 watchfriendshere.com Chandler and Monica court embarrassment when they secretly go to a fertility clinic for tests that will determine their family plans, until an old acquaintance runs into them. Ross hides his feelings for Charlie to help Joey woo her. Rachel sneaks into a spa for a massage and hopes that Phoebe won’t find out and feel betrayed. Friends s09e21 Friends S9e21 s09e21 S9e21 9×21 Season 9 episode 21 tv shows S9 s09 se9 e21 ep21 9×21 4 S09 E21 HQ episodes serie series watch online complete full tv television hd hq part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4. Watch Friends Season 9 Episode 21 The One with the Fertility Test full free watch Friends Season 9 Episode 21 The One with the Fertility Test full episode online watch full Friends Season 9 Episode 21 The One with the Fertility Test watch Friends Season 9 Episode 21 The One with the Fertility Test watch online watch Friends Season 9 Episode 21 The One with the Fertility Test for free watch Friends Season 9 Episode 21 The One with the Fertility Test full episode watch Friends Season 9 Episode 21 The One with the Fertility Test free online.
Fertility experts at Cambridge Temperature Concepts are recruiting a raft of new people as the business takes off.
The company celebrated its 200th pregnancy at the end of September, and 300th at Christmas.
And further celebrations followed news the US authority for medical approvals has given DuoFertility the green light.
It has taken two years and 750 pages of paperwork to get this market-opening clearance.
“We are delighted that the US Food and Drug Administration has recognised DuoFertility as a safe and effective medical device and service to help couples in conceiving, without resorting to the physical, emotional and financial costs of IVF,” says Dr Shamus Husheer, company founder.
“Twelve months using DuoFertility has recently been shown to be more effective than a cycle of IVF and is suitable for about 80% of infertile couples.”
The company is now scaling up UK operations, including Cambridge-based telesales, customer support and fertility expertise, running a nightshift to help more couples in the US.
“Anyone with a biological or medical background, a compassionate personality and a desire to help couples at what can be a hugely distressing time of their lives should contact us to join the team.”
A local fertility clinic is offering free help for women who have been diagnosed with cancer.
The Sher Fertility Institute is offering to freeze the eggs of women, like 30-year-old Angela Cooper. She found out just before Thanksgiving that she has stage one cervical cancer. The oncologist recommended a complete hysterectomy, which will be performed next month.
Cooper learned about the institute and its help over Thanksgiving and emailed the institute. “I said, 'I know my doctor is going to be reaching out to you, but I thought I'd do so as well.' And literally Monday afternoon they called me,” she said.
Dr. Jeffery Fisch said, “By freezing eggs for these women we're offering hope.”
But the procedure cannot be done for everyone.
“The women need to be under the age of 42 and you have to have been recently diagnosed with cancer and have not started chemotherapy,” Dr. Fisch explained.
Cooper met the criteria and has already undergone one harvesting procedure and is about to have another. “Allowing this door to be opening even if it's not something you plan on taking advantage of allows you a choice later in life,” she said.
Copyright 2012 KVVU (KVVU Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.
Sunlight boosts fertility, according to new research that
claims vitamin D can balance sex hormones in women and improve
sperm count in men.
The findings suggest some couples could be undergoing
unnecessary and costly fertility treatments when
spending time in the sunshine could be more
beneficial.
'People could either spend more time outside in the sun – or
take vitamin D supplements, which are a safe and
cheap way to increase levels,' says lead author Dr Elisabeth
Lerchbaum.
The researchers at the Medical University of Graz in Austria found that
women ovulate less and their eggs have a reduced chance of
implanting in the womb in the winter
months.
Although vitamin D can be obtained in small quantities through
oily fish, eggs and liver, 80 per cent of our bodily needs are
obtained via a chemical process that happens when UVB
rays are absorbed by the skin.
'The vast majority of people in this country – around 86 per
cent – are getting less than the optimum levels,' says Oliver
Gillie, director of the Health
Research Forum.
Leading fertility expert, Zita West, agrees. 'Vitamin D is becoming
increasingly important for fertility,' she says. 'Having done
over 800 vitamin D tests, we have found that around 70 per cen
of our clients are deficient. Vitamin D deficiency is linked to
obesity, poly cystic ovaries and immune
disorders.'
Mr Gullie advises couples trying to get pregant arrange a
sunshine holiday or spend time in the garden this summer before
going down the expensive route of IVF.
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Monday 30 January 2012
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NEW YORK, Jan. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – The American Fertility
Association (The AFA), a 501(c)(3) national
not-for-profit organization, announced that a new slate of
officers has been elected to lead the organization. Both
outgoing Co-Chairs will remain as members of the Board of
Directors.
Former Co-Chair Patricia Mendell said, “Over the last
four years, I have been honored to have led this organization,
through a period of challenges and growth, with my Co-Chair
Stuart Bell. We have emerged even stronger in our commitment to
supporting the right of people to build their families of
choice and as the trusted source for the most accurate,
leading-edge, and unbiased information for fertility and
pregnancy loss. I am excited and energized by our new Executive
Board and am ready to help them further grow this valuable
organization.”
The Board of Directors will be led by Donald Hribek as Chair;
Alan Penzias, MD, as Vice-Chair; Meredith Carr as Secretary;
and David Klusendorf as Treasurer. Full Board biographies may
be found at
Newly elected Board Chair Don Hribek said, “For the last four
years Patricia Mendell and Stuart Bell have been tremendous
Co-Chairs of The AFA. I, along with the entire Board, wish to
thank them for their tireless work in creating a strong vision
for the organization. Under their leadership, The AFA has grown
and become an advocate in every aspect of family building. I
look forward to building on their outstanding foundation, and
am excited about working with our Board and Executive Director
as the new Chair.”
“Don, Alan, Meredith, and Dave are a powerhouse team that
brings an extensive range of talents and experience to The
AFA,” said Stuart Bell. “Both Patricia and I look forward to
serving and supporting them in our continued roles as Board
members.”
Media Contact:
Corey Whelan
Corey@TheAFA.org
(718) 853-1411
About The AFA:
The American Fertility Association (The AFA), a 501(c)(3)
national non-profit organization, is a lifetime resource for
infertility prevention, reproductive health and family
building. AFA services and materials are provided free of
charge to consumers and are available to everyone without
reservation. These services include leading-edge educational
outreach events, an extensive online library with HD videos, a
daily blog, a resource directory available for download on
mobile devices, telephone and in-person coaching, and a
toll-free support line.
http://www.theafa.org
888.917.3777
This press release was issued through eReleases(R). For
more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.
East coast fertility merger with Long Island IVF brings Long Island’s top fertility practices together.Plainview, NY (PRWEB) January 30, 2012 The two fertility clinics at the forefront of assisted reproductive technology — Long Island IVF and East Coast Fertility — have merged their practices to continue to provide Long Island fertility patients with the highest quality infertility treatment and …
Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, is vital in rebalancing female sex hormones and can also improve sperm count in men, a report in the Daily Mail, quoting a Medical University of Graz (Austria) study, noted.
Couples trying for a baby should take a sunshine holiday
– and not just because it may put them in a more romantic
mood.
Sunlight boosts fertility in both men and women by
increasing their levels of vitamin D, a study has
found.
Known as the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D is also key to
balancing sex hormones in women and improving sperm count in
men, according to researchers.
Sunshine vitamine: A vitamine D boost from spending time in
the sun can help improve fertility
The findings mean that some couples may be undergoing
unnecessary and costly fertility treatment when spending time
in the sun could be the answer.
For women, vitamin D helps boost levels of the
female sex hormones progesterone and oestrogen by 13 per
cent and 21 per cent respectively, regulating menstrual cycles
and making conception more likely.
Fathers-to-be increase their fertility by going into the
sun, too – because vitamin D is essential for the healthy
development of each sperm’s nucleus.
It also increases levels of the male sex hormone
testosterone, improving a man’s libido, according to the review
of several studies, published this week in the European Journal
of Endocrinology.
The vitamin’s effect on both male and female sex hormones
may explain why conception rates fall in the winter and peak in
the summer in Northern European countries, say the researchers
at the Medical University of Graz in Austria.
In their own study of nearly 2,300 men, they also found
that levels of testosterone and vitamin D peaked in August and
were lowest in March, just after the winter.
Women have been found to ovulate less – and their eggs
have a reduced chance of implanting in the womb – in the winter
months.
The link between sunshine and fertility has also been
found in animal studies, the review states.
Female rodents kept in total darkness have been found to
be less fertile and have more pregnancy
complications.
In male rats raised with no sunlight, the number of
successful matings drops by 73 per cent.
Fertility problems affect one in seven couples in the UK.
In four out of ten cases, the difficulty lies with the male
partner.
Scientists found the fertility of men and women increased
after spending time in the sun which could mean some couples
would not need to resort to IVF to conceive
Although vitamin D can be obtained in small quantities by
eating oily fish, eggs and liver, about 80 per cent of the
amount the body needs is obtained via a chemical process that
happens when the UVB rays in sunlight are absorbed by the
skin.
Those living in Britain tend to be particularly prone to
having lower levels because there is so much cloud cover, even
in summer.
Lead author Dr Elisabeth Lerchbaum stressed that while
sunshine appears to improve fertility, it is important couples
don’t overdo it because of the risk of skin cancer from
over-exposure.
She said: ‘People could either spend more time outside in
the sun – or they could take vitamin D supplements, which are a
safe and cheap way to increase levels.’
Oliver Gillie, director of the Health Research Forum,
which is campaigning for better health advice on vitamin D,
said: ‘The vast majority of people in this country – around 86
per cent – are getting less than the optimum levels. In Britain
almost no vitamin D is generated in the skin during the winter
months.
‘I would say to couples hoping to get pregnant to arrange
a sunshine holiday, or get into the garden in the summer as
often as they can…before you go down the route of expensive
IVF treatment.’
The findings are the latest good news about vitamin D.
Recent research has found that it may also play a part in
reducing cases of sudden infant death syndrome – and also
cutting mental health problems in children.
23-01-2012 09:07 Portugal is in the midst of a political debate about surrogacy laws, and Portugal’s largest TV channel asked Dr. Michael Doyle, medical director of CT Fertility, to demonstrate what is involved and describe how the clinic help European parents. The report by iTV’s Patrícia Matos and Marta Dhaniswas was called “Barrigas de aluguer ainda são tabu” (Surrogacy is still tabu) and it comes just a month after Portugal’s other main channel featured CT Fertility in a documentary they aired (youtu.be The crew filmed an egg retrieval and the work of the clinic’s embryologist as she fertilized the eggs. They also interviewed gay prospective parents and an egg donor. We bring a short clip here, the rest of the report can be found at www.tvi24.iol.pt
23-01-2012 23:52 According to researchers in Argentina, man’s supposed new best friend, the innocuous laptop, could seriously affect male fertility. In simulated tests, the sperm of 33 volunteer were all negatively affected. The mobility of the semen diminished and the breakdown of its DNA increased. While tests have yet to be conducted on female subjects, the discovery suggests the devices potentially reduces a man’s fertility and increases the danger of genetic deformities in children who are born. Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman reports from Buenos Aires.
PRO-LIFE campaigners have criticised a Scottish fertility clinic for introducing a screening test that checks for genetic abnormalities before eggs are implanted into a woman.
22-08-2011 08:17 CNY Fertility Center strongly suggests utilizing the eastern practices offered through CNY Healing Arts, specifically acupuncture. It can be very helpful when attempting to conceive. cnyhealingarts.com for more information.
21-07-2011 05:55 www.ClaireMarieMiller.com http worldmassagefestival.com What is Fertility Massage? Fertility Massage is a unique and effective massage protocol, including fertility awareness, cleansing therapies and visualizations that Claire Marie Miller developed through her own experience of consciously conceiving her daughter Jessica Hope in 1984.
21-01-2012 23:39 In this video, Sally from www.getting-pregnant-fast.com illustrates what fertile cervical fluid looks like when a couple is focusing on improving their chances of getting pregnant more quickly. Fertile cervical mucus is similar in consistency to raw egg whites.
19-01-2012 11:35 Nutritive Fertility Infusions are complimentary to any natural fertility program. Nutritive fertility infusions boost nutrition, support hormonal balance, are tonifying, naturally cleansing, aid in digestion and are hydrating
Mark Griffiths (pictured with partner Jeanette) was diagnosed with a blocked ejaculatory duct. This was preventing the normal volume of semen being released.