Daily Sex Increases Sperm Quality, Odds Of Pregnancy

Having sex on a daily basis improves sperm quality in men, which can enhance their chances of conceiving a child, researchers reported on Tuesday.

Dr David Greening of Sydney IVF headed the new study of 118 men to show that daily ejaculation for seven days improves their sperm quality by reducing the amount of DNA damage.

Greening presented his findings to the 25th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam.

Prior to the study, researchers had debated whether or not it was necessary for men to abstain from ejaculation for a few days before attempting to conceive with their partner.

"All that we knew was that intercourse on the day of ovulation offered the highest chance of pregnancy, but we did not know what was the best advice for the period leading up to ovulation or egg retrieval for IVF,” said Greening.

"I thought that frequent ejaculation might be a physiological mechanism to improve sperm DNA damage, while maintaining semen levels within the normal, fertile range."

Greening studied 118 men with higher than normal sperm DNA damage. Men were instructed to ejaculate each day for seven consecutive days.

Before the study began, the men’s sperm had DNA damage ranging between 15 percent and 98 percent, based on the DNA fragmentation index.

On the seventh day of the study, Greening found that 96 men, or 81 percent, had an average 12 percent decrease in their sperm DNA damage. Meanwhile, 22 men, or 19 percent, had an average increase in damage of nearly 10 percent.

"Although the mean average was 26 percent which is in the 'fair' range for sperm quality, this included 18 percent of men whose sperm DNA damage increased as well as those whose DNA damage decreased. Amongst the men whose damage decreased, their average dropped by 12 percent to just under 23 percent DFI, which puts them in the 'good' range. Also, more men moved into the 'good' range and out of the 'poor' or 'fair' range. These changes were substantial and statistically highly significant,” said Greening.

"In addition, we found that although frequent ejaculation decreased semen volume and sperm concentrations, it did not compromise sperm motility and, in fact, this rose slightly but significantly.”

"Further research is required to see whether the improvement in these men's sperm quality translates into better pregnancy rates, but other, previous studies have shown the relationship between sperm DNA damage and pregnancy rates,” Greening concluded.

"The optimal number of days of ejaculation might be more or less than seven days, but a week appears manageable and favorable.”

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Three Month Old Cancer patient Has Reproductive Tissue Frozen

An American baby boy, undergoing treatment for cancer that is likely to leave him infertile, has had samples of his sperm-producing stem cells frozen. It is hoped that if his treatment results in infertility then he might later be able to have the tissues grown and re-implanted in an attempt to restore his fertility.
While post-pubescent children have had sperm saved - in the same fashion provided for many adult patients who are undergoing fertility-damaging treatments - this procedure can also be provided to protect the fertility of much younger children who are years away from sexual maturity. Dr Jill Ginsberg, a paediatric oncologist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia where the procedure was performed told the Times newspaper that 'we do not approach the families of every little boy - only if we're fairly certain the [cancer] treatment is going to leave them infertile. We're hopeful because
science advances so quickly, but we can't make any promises. It's just an
option that's never been available before'.
Rather than providing a store of frozen sperm that may be used in assisted reproductive procedures in years to come, the new procedure saves stem cells that can later be re-implanted in an attempt to restore fertility and permit non-assisted reproduction. The new technique thus has the dual developments of allowing for the treatment of even younger patients and in progressing a potential therapy for restoring fertility rather than just providing an alternative when it is lost.
The new procedure is reliant upon improved methods for encouraging the growth and multiplication of the limited number of sperm producing stem cells found in the body. It is hoped that even if re-implanting the cells does not yield success at restoring fertility then the cells will still be capable of producing sperm in the lab and these can still be used in the conventional manner via assisted reproduction.
The technology has, however, evoked concern about such procedures being performed at such an early age, inevitably relying wholly on parental consent whereas for post-pubescent patients the input and consent of the individual has been of central importance. It is however clear that the procedure provides potential further options for the child when of age and the patient could have the samples destroyed without using them if they so wished.

Peter Peppers

I have never seen a Pecker Pepper before....

These are actual peppers from a garden. They are called 'Peter Peppers'..

By the way, the farmer says they can grow up to 18" long!
Sort of brings tears to your eyes doesn't it?

Planned $95M superyacht looks like a killer whale

A spectacular superyacht has been designed by an internationally renowned urban planning architect in a very unusual shape.The design of "Oculus" was inspired by the jaw and eye socket bone structure of large oceanic fish and mammals.

The design of "Oculus" was inspired by the jaw and eye-socket bone structure of large oceanic creatures.

The planned seventy-six meter long "Oculus," which is designed for 12 guests, looks like a large sea creature, with one end looking uncannily like the jaw and eye socket of a shark or a killer whale.

A second design, the futuristic, 91-meter "Infinitas," is based on the figure-of-eight shape of an infinity loop.

The pair are the brainchild of Kevin Schopfer, a Boston, Massachusetts-based architect who felt the design of luxury yachts should move away from generic boat shapes to something more playful.

The two eye-catching designs, which include inside swimming pools and helipads, are still looking for someone to stump up the cash to pay for them. With a starting price of $95 million for Oculus and $140 million for Infinitas, they won't come cheap.

But Schopfer has teamed with naval architecture firm Sparkman & Stevens to build more of the vessels.

"There are several potential clients interested in both Oculus and Infinitas and discussions are ongoing," he told reporters. "And we are also working on several more yachts."

The Future of Tourism is…Robot Sex?

Forget robot marriages, the future could be filled with robot hookers! At Australia's Tourism Futures conference, futurologist Ian Yeoman (of New Zealand's Victoria University) forecast that artificial resorts with robot staff, and, yep, even robot prostitutes could become a reality.

"Robotics will become important, because you're going to have labor shortages in the future,'' he said…Even robot "prostitutes'' that would not pass on diseases such as HIV could make an appearance."

"But you're talking about extreme futures," he admitted.

Dr Yeoman's talk centered on what the world might be like in 2050. He explained that indoor tourism could be the next big thing due to global warming, an older population, plus food, water and jet fuel problems.

He imagines indoor resorts with artificial ski centers and recreated landscapes; even giant sea-faring cruise ships. He also predicts rooms with chemical wallpapers that can change color to suit a guest's mood.

MSNBC, USA is running a report on the impending likelihood of legalized marital relations with robots. They have word from a leading researcher at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, Dr. Levy, who seems to think peeps will be getting freaky with their robots by 2012, with marriage following by 2050.

"Once you have a story like 'I had sex with a robot, and it was great!' appear someplace like Cosmo magazine, I'd expect many people to jump on the bandwagon."

We are thinking you could probably drop the phrase "with a robot," as well as the blurb after the exclamation mark, and still have us convinced. Dr. Levy goes on to suggest that Massachusetts will be the first state to contain a robot-human sexing population. He justifies his theory by stating:

"Massachusetts is more liberal than most other jurisdictions in the United States and has been at the forefront of same-sex marriage."

Though we aren't too sure the reasoning is sound, we have already seen Roomba owners gaining an emotional attachment to their machines. Whether they will be putting their winkles in the Roomba's dinkle and allowing it to have a tinkle, we very much doubt. However, if sexbots get this real, well, perhaps the ethics of robosexuals is a serious debate, after all.

Very Stupid UFO

As you can hear in this audio record, a Delta pilot spotted an UFO at New York's JFK airport this Sunday. Allegedly, the object was a "paraglider" who landed illegally, and then took off on a potential collision course:

DAL164: Hey, do you see something over the... looks like a guy on a paraglider.. almost over the approach, er, the threshold of two-two right?

...

Looks like he hit the ground, dropped something off.

...

Now he's airborne again. I guess is it ah, looks like some guy on a parachute.

The question is: What the hell was he or she dropping? Why nobody has found the dropped object yet—if there was actually anything? Air, land, and sea police searches didn't find any traces of this very stupid and insane person. Or whatever it was, because for now it's just "unidentified."

Thankfully, nothing happened as it climbed higher than 1,000 feet across JFK's busy air traffic.

Native Twitter Location Data Means More Stalker Power With Every Tweet

Twitter's API just got a new piece of awesome: native location data. Before, apps had to jury-rig location schemes, but now location data can be natively baked into every tweet.

Twitter + true location is going to be insanely powerful and possibly take Twitter to a whole new level. The API will let developers couple latitude and longitude with any tweet, so your friends can know where you're chomping on that delicious burger—or a whole mess of other things.

It is opt-in, though, so don't freak out, in case you were. (If you use Twitter, I don't know why you would, actually.) But you might as well get used to the idea of people knowing where you are—it's simply inevitable with the evolution of location-oriented apps. Location is the next thing, whether you like it or not. So enjoy opting out while you can. After all, how else are they gonna target you with those location-based ads?

MRI Video of Two People Having Sex Is, Uh, Really Something

Back in 1999, Pek Van Andel and three of his colleagues did a research study to take MRI images of a couple having sex. Now, the video is on the internet. Oh my.

It's sure not the sexiest piece of footage I've ever seen, but it's interesting. I guess? What's great is that the researchers were pretty upfront about there being no real point to this study other than just seeing if they could do it. Look at their objective!

Objective: To find out whether taking images of the male and female genitals during coitus is feasible and to find out whether former and current ideas about the anatomy during sexual intercourse and during female sexual arousal are based on assumptions or on facts.

This is exactly the kind of thing we'd do if you gave us any kind of equipment—test the limits of it. Also, can you imagine trying to have sex in an MRI tube? That's got to make the back seat of a compact car feel like a king-size bed by comparison.

Now that sex is done, we need to start the MRI on other bodily functions. Urination, defecation...I guess that's it.

50th Wedding Anniversary

Jack and Betty are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, when Jack asks his wife, “Betty, have you ever cheated on me?”
Betty replies, “Oh Jack, why would you ask such a question now? You don’t want to ask that question.”
“Yes, Betty, I really want to know. Please.”
“Well, all right. Yes, three times…”
“Three?!? Well, when were they?” he asked.
“Well, Jack, remember when you were 35 years-old and you really wanted to start a business on your own, and no bank would give you a loan? But, then one day the bank president himself came over to the house and signed the loan papers, no questions asked?”
“Oh, Betty, you did that for me? I guess I can’t be too upset about that. Well, when was number 2?”
“Well, Jack, remember when you had that last heart attack and needed that very risky operation that no surgeon was willing to perform? And, remember how Dr. DeBakey came all the way up here, to perform the surgery himself?”
“Betty, you should do such a thing for me, to save my life. To do such a thing, you must truly love me darling. How can I be upset with that?”
“So, all right then, when was number 3?”
“Well, Jack, remember a few years ago, when you really wanted to be president of the golf club and you were 375 votes short?”

Robot Crawls Through Veins to Heal You

A new robot, just one millimeter in diameter, can crawl through your veins to treat arterial blockage or deliver targeted medication.

Developed by researchers from Israel's Technion University, what makes the robot feasible is that it isn't self-propelled, saving size and engineering complication. Instead, the bot takes advantage of a magnetic field from outside the body, meaning that doctors can not only guide but also propel the the vein crawler forward at 9mm/second. And the robot shouldn't run out of power mid-procedure, stalling it in your body as it drifts for your brain.

When the robot needs to park, those little arms can spring out and grab onto vessel walls.

Now researchers are looking at beefing up the bot, adding extra tools and even a camera to the mix. And as scary as a robot-filmed reality show starring my aorta may be, it sounds a lot better than having several layers of flesh peeled away via scalpel.

S.A.T. TEST QUESTIONS

The following questions and answers were actually collected from SAT tests given in Springdale, Arkansas in 2000 to 16-year-old students!
(Don't laugh too hard----one of these kids may be the US President someday!)

Q: Name the four seasons.
A: Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

Q: Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink.
A: Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists. (dead sheep and canoeists??? ??)

Q: How is dew formed?
A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

Q: What is a planet?
A: A body of earth surrounded by sky.

Q: In a democratic society, how important are elections?
A: Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election.

Q: What are steroids?
A: Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.

Q: What happens to your body as you age?
A: When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental.

Q: What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?
A: He says good-bye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery.

Q: Name a major disease associated with cigarettes.
A: Premature death.

Q: How can you delay milk turning sour?
A: Keep it in the cow. (hey technically this is correct)

Q: How are the main parts of the body categorized? (E.g., abdomen.)
A: The body is consisted into three parts -- the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity.The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels, A, E, I, O, and U.

Q: What is the Fibula?
A: A small lie.

Q: What does "varicose" mean?
A: Nearby.

Q: What is the most common form of birth control?
A: Most people prevent contraception by wearing a condominium.

Q: Give the meaning of the term "Caesarian Section."
A: The caesarian section is a district in Rome .

Q: What is a seizure?
A: A Roman emperor.

Q: What is a terminal illness?
A: When you are sick at the airport.

Q: Give an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic feature?
A: Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and so they look like umbrellas.

Q: What does the word "benign" mean?
A: Benign is what you will be after you be eight.

Q: What is a turbine?
A: Something an Arab wears on his head.

Q: What is a Hindu?
A: It lays eggs

Who On Earth Can Order a $47,000 Solid Gold Penis Enlarger?

A Saudi businessman with a small penis, that's who. According to X4 Labs—a Canadian company that creates this kind of devices—their customer has ordered what may be the most expensive adult sex aid ever, made of pure gold.

The company will use solid gold to create the device, with 40 diamonds and rubies encrusted all across its surface. Hopefully, not in contact with the skin. The order will arrive in October in an armored car, despite it being prohibited to own sexual devices in Saudi Arabia. Happily, this is classified as a "medically certified device" in the US. Sadly, having it made of gold and precious stones won't help his peepee grow any longer!

IVF less successful with alternative fertility treatments

Women who are desperately trying to get pregnant might want to avoid complementary and alternative medicine.

The common belief is that it won't hurt to try alternative fertility treatments before reverting to in vitro fertilization (IVF). But a new study from Denmark finds that the success of IVF treatment is 30% lower among women who have used alternative medicine. The researchers included over 700 IVF users over a 12-month period. Women who had first tried a combination of alternative treatments, such as reflexology, acupuncture, or herbal- and aroma therapy, had significantly lower pregnancy rates after IVF treatment.

Alex Polyakov and Beverley Vollenhoven of the Faculty of Medicine emphasize the relevance of the study for IVF clinics. "It is important, when discussing IVF treatment with couples, that their use of alternative therapies is also discussed, as this may have a bearing on treatment success."

Whether the effect on IVF success is a direct result of the use of complementary medicine, or whether women who were already having more trouble conceiving were more likely to revert to alternative fertility treatments could not be determined in the present study. Nevertheless, Polyakov and Vollenhoven recommend being cautious: "Until further evidence is available, it is best to counsel couples against the use of alternative therapies when also having IVF."

The Second Celine Dion Miracle

Canadian pop diva Celine Dion is pregnant with her second child. Just like their first child, the second child has also been conceived through in vitro fertilization
(IVF) at a New York clinic.

This will be the second child for the 41-year-old megastar with her 67-year-old husband-cum-manager Rene Angelil. The couple, who married in 1994, had their first child Rene-Charles nine years ago.

The pregnancy was confirmed Monday after test at the same clinic. The couple had sought medical help to conceive after Angelil was diagnosed with cancer in 1999. Since he was to be treated with radiation and chemotherapy which affect fertility, Angelil had frozen his sperm before undergoing the treatment.

In 2001, Dion had an intracytoplasmic sperm injection, in which a single sperm is injected into the egg. The couple planned to have two kids at the time. But one of the two fertilized eggs was frozen five days after conception and stored at the New York clinic at that time.

It is this frozen fertilized egg which will be the second offspring for the pop diva.

So rather than being twins, the couple's two children will now be siblings.

"Celine is very, very happy,'' Murielle Blondeau, a spokeswoman for Dion, was quoted as saying Tuesday. "Celine and Rene are full of joy. It's been a big dream for Celine to have a second child.

Local agency reports said the sex of the child is not known.

The best-selling female artist of all time, Celine Dion has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide so far.

The youngest of the 14 kids born into a poverty-stricken musical family in Quebec, Dion was guided to greatness by Angelil who sold his house to finance the young girl's first album in 1981.

The French album went on to become number one in Quebec province, paving the way for her stardom.

Dion and Angelil became lovers but kept the affair under wraps, fearing that it will be frowned upon because he was 26 years older than her. Now, their second Miracle:)

The Twin Saviour Siblings Have Arrived

Twins born following IVF (in vitro fertilisation) treatment to select embryos which would be a tissue match for their elder brother are thought to be the first incidence in the UK of multiple 'saviour siblings'. Out of just twelve licences granted by the UK's regulatory body, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), to permit families to use tissue typing to create a so-called saviour sibling, only this one has resulted in twins.

Laurence Maguire, 42 and Wendy Plant, 37, decided to try and have a saviour sibling when a worldwide search for a bone marrow donor for their eldest son, Connor, failed. Connor suffers from aplastic anaemia, a condition in which the immune system destroys parts of the bone marrow causing life threatening anaemia. The condition can be treated by with immunosuppressant drugs and regular blood transfusions, but the only prospect of a cure is to have a bone marrow transplant from a tissue-matched donor. Mr Maguire and Ms Plant created five embryos following IVF, two of which were found to be a tissue match for Connor and were implanted into Ms Plant.

The controversy over so-called 'saviour siblings' centres around the idea that couples might wish to have a child as a 'means to an end'. Some argue that this raises concerns over the welfare of the child, who may perhaps not feel as valued as they would if they were conceived under normal circumstances and may even be put under unreasonable pressure to 'save the life' of their sick sibling. However, speaking to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Mr Maguire defended the family's decision to have a sibling to help their eldest son: 'Once you see your children, any notion that they are spare parts is gone. We wouldn't change anything, they are our children and we love them all. I never ever think that we didn't have the twins for the right reason.'

The twin's umbilical cord blood will be stored at St Helier Hospital in Carshalton in case their brother's condition deteriorates in the future.

Do-it-yourself Paternity Testing Now!

A 'do-it-yourself' genetic testing kit will be available over-the-counter from chemists in the UK which allows users to send their own DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) samples by post for paternity testing. The kits cost INR 2400 each and are produced by Anglia DNA, a company based in Norwich. Customers are required to post samples of their DNA to the company and - upon payment of a further fee of INR 10,000 - the samples will be tested in the company's laboratory. The results are then produced within five days - or within 24 hours if customers opt for the express service costing INR 3000. The test is designed to confirm the paternity of an alleged father but the results will not be legally binding in paternity disputes in the courts.

Anglia DNA must comply with consent requirements for DNA analysis under the Human Tissue Act 2004 and it says that it also follows guidelines issued by the British Medical Association on over-the-counter genetic tests. Both adults must sign a consent form to be returned with the DNA samples and then this will be followed up with a telephone call to confirm the parties understand the consequences of the procedure. The consent of the child is usually obtained via the mother, the company said.

Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb says he is writing to the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) to ask for clarification on how such over-the-counter products are regulated. 'There's a question about whether the regulatory system keeps pace with changes in technology and whether there's a need to change the rules in which this sort of product can operate,' he said. Mr Lamb expressed concerns that the tests could encourage users to adopt a more 'casual' attitude to paternity testing: 'On the face of it, I don't oppose the idea of people having a right to know what their parentage is... but I can also see there are potential negative consequences and risk of a casual attitude to having a child.' The increasing availability of DNA testing and the improvement of the technology has thrown up the question of how such tests should be regulated, said Mr Lamb, calling upon the government and the HTA to address the issue.

Anglia DNA is the first company to test customers' DNA on UK soil. Last month, International Biosciences announced it was also distributing over-the-counter DNA testing kits to UK chemists but it sent the samples to the United States for testing.

Tom Howell, business development manager at Anglia DNA, said the company takes the issue of consent very seriously and defended supplying the kits over the counter. 'DNA testing used to exist online but now people can buy kits from an environment they feel comfortable with,' he said, adding: 'It takes away doubts and concerns and means people can move on with their lives. It is rare that people get back results that they do not expect.' Anglia DNA managing director, Dr Thomas Haizel said, 'It's great to have been able finally to launch the product and we hope the UK consumer will find great confidence in knowing this is a product developed for the UK market with all the testing done in a UK laboratory.'

The Fertility Time-Bomb is Ticking!

Many women are risking their chances of being able to have children by leaving it too late, according to Bill Ledger, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the UK's University of Sheffield. He told the Daily Telegraph newspaper that women who chose to delay motherhood until their 30s and beyond in order to establish their careers were ignoring the implications this could have for their fertility.

Professor Ledger recommends that women planing to start a family later in life have a fertility test at the age of thirty to help gauge how quickly their fertility is declining. He helped to develop a test, launched in 2006, called the 'Plan Ahead Kit' which works out the number of eggs that a woman has left in her ovaries. From this, it predicts the woman's 'ovarian reserve' for the following two years. Professor Ledger believes the test, which costs INR 16,000 could help women make more informed reproductive choices and conceive naturally.

However, Dr Gillian Lockwood, medical director of Midland Fertility Services and vice president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' ethics committee, and Tony Rutherford, chair of the British Fertility Society, have both voiced concerns that tests could also create a false sense of security, as egg reserves are not the only factor involved in getting pregnant naturally.

Professor Ledger said that too many women were relying on the availability of IVF as a fallback, not realising that the treatment was not freely available on the National Health Service (NHS) in the majority of cases. Last week a report showed that eight out of ten primary care trusts were failing to provide the recommended three cycles of IVF to women under 40 on the NHS.

Speaking to the Observer newspaper, Dr Mark Hamilton, the leading consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital and former chairman of the British Fertility Society, made further calls for a campaign to raise awareness of fertility issues in primary and secondary schools: 'Sexual health messages focus entirely on avoidance of sex, but this should be coupled with promotion of fertility awareness. We should be teaching everyone, from childhood up, about all the factors linked to fertility potential, and how the huge range of things from lifestyle choices to genetic inheritance can have harmful effects on that potential.'

The average age for women to start a family is now over thirty and has been steadily increasing for decades. Research shows that fertility halves by the age of 35 and declines steadily thereafter.

The Indian Independence Day Truths

Why I Chose a Non-Exercise LifeStyle?

Interesting article from a friend on his blog! I am convinced.

Editor's Note; This is purely a personal viewpoint and lifestyle. No one should under any circumstances and under any conditions try to practice our style on their own. All medical and health matters should be thoroughly discussed with your physician and medical advisers.


A few days ago, while surfing the net, I came across a Time.com article titled "Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin". I read the article and agreed with much of what the author John Cloud wrote. Frankly, that article got me thinking about my own experience and how I benefited by giving up exercise.

The TV character Ray Barone (star of "Everybody Loves Raymond") once said "I love beef and I have always tried to get as much of it as I can". Ray says this to Debra, his TV wife, after he thoroughly embarrasses himself and Debra at a PTA event. I can understand Ray's behavior.

I love chocolate and I have always tried to get as much of it as I can. People, especially yuppie women, look at me and make snide comments when they are behind me in the line at the grocery store. Apparently, they are shocked by the amount of chocolate I buy. A few years ago, I was being driven to a concert in New Jersey by my dear friends, a wonderful couple. There is a Dunkin' Donuts store located right after the exit from the Holland Tunnel into New Jersey. I asked them to stop at the store and I went in with my friend's wife. She ordered something for them and I ordered two chocolate cream filled donuts. In my defense, chocolate cream filled donuts are not available in Manhattan - that is correct, no store in Manhattan serves this gorgeous donut, filled with chocolate cream on the inside and with powder sprinkled on the outside. It is impossible to eat this donut without making a mess of your lower face.

Before the server poured coffee and bagged my friend's order, I had eaten the two donuts while standing at the register. My lips and lower face had white powder stains mixed with a bit of the dark chocolate cream. Both the cashier and my friend's wife started laughing at me. That was not very nice of them but frankly I did not care. Finding that rare donut was reward enough. While donuts are great, a chocolate cake served at a fine Italian restaurant is pure heaven. After a dinner, I have been accused on inhaling a entire piece of chocolate cake before others can get a bite into their desserts. I would support the argument that chocolate was Europe's greatest gift to humanity.

So I can relate to Ray's binge of eating beef and spilling the au jus sauce all over his shirt while Debra was giving her campaign speech. But for a period of time, I was guilted out of eating chocolate by people who claimed they had my best heath interests at heart, literally at heart. At that time, during a routine physical, the doctor did a blood test and discovered that my cholesterol was 364. I was told this was a shocking figure and I must bring it down. I was also informed that among all the ethnic groups in the world, according to studies, the desi crowd (people of Indian origin) had the greatest statistical risk of getting heart disease.

I was disturbed myself and resolved to do everything I could to get my cholesterol down. I gave up chocolate and began exercising, the whole thing including treadmills etc. I went through EKGs, Stress tests, Thallium Stress Tests, the whole nine yards. I began taking statins in small dosage. I changed my diet and followed whatever I was told to do, including drinking 4 glasses of Metamucil daily (orange metamucil concentrate mixed with water). You try doing that at work in full view of about 20 colleagues and see what comments you get. But, in short, I became the near perfect disciple of the Behave Correctly school.

It helped a bit. My cholesterol numbers came down a little, especially the LDL, the bad cholesterol. But, there was no improvement in my HDL, the good cholesterol. So I was told to exercise more, because exercise supposedly helps to raise HDL.

I tried, I really did. But my personality does not seem to jive with exercise. The Treadmill was boring and so I tried to listen to music while I ran on the treadmill. Like most desis, I have to sing along when I listen to my favorite music. But apparently you cannot do so in a gym, however softly you choose to sing. So I began singing silently to myself and even that got really uncomfortable stares from others.

Apart from such social issues, exercise was frustrating. It meant I had to give up watching a favorite TV program or a movie. It was such a waste of time. Apart from exercising, I had to get dressed in exercise clothes and take the elevator to go down to another floor in our building to visit the gym. The whole thing was very intrusive on my time and felt highly unsatisfactory. I was getting irritable. So I gave up exercise.

At that time, a series of articles appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek arguing that chocolate, especially my favorite dark chocolate, was good for the human heart in moderate quantities. Whether humorous or otherwise, the articles confirmed my belief. So I began eating chocolate again, but in smaller quantities.

At that time, I rediscovered my love for Bollywood films and began buying DVDs of my favorite oldies. This was the spring of 2002 and due to the recession, the desi stores in Jackson Heights, Queens were selling these DVDs at about $5 each. Quickly, I became one of their valued customers.

On Saturday and Sunday, I would stay in bed the entire afternoon (after waking up late) and watch Bollywood oldies. Then I decided to experiment a bit and got some newer films. I still remember the weekend, when I watched 5 newer Bollywood films, one after another. Each movie was a discovery. By sheer luck or destiny, I had chosen the right sequence; each movie turned out to be more enjoyable than the earlier. After that weekend, there was no going back. Watching Bollywood movies became my primary weekend function.

When fall 2002 arrived, the weekend schedule had to be adjusted. Remember what the Marine told Tom Cruise in "A Few Good Men" - " We live by a code, Corps, God and Country". Well people like me have our own code for the fall. Mine is "Michigan, Big Ten and College Football". If a game is on TV, I have no choice. I have to watch it.

So that fall, Saturdays were done. I had to get up early to begin watching the two Bollywood music shows that came on at 9:00 am. Then at 11:30, one of Bollywood shows would end and I would switch to ESPN's College Game Day. The last 15 minutes of the dream team of the Coach, the Street Guy and the Anchor Fowler cannot be missed.

Then at noon, either a Michigan or Ohio State game would be on TV followed by a Big 12 game in the afternoon. The day would end around midnight after the evening game, an SEC or a Pac-10 game. So, from 9:00 am to midnight, every fall Saturday was pure heaven , with great games, eating in bed and becoming what God no doubt intended me to be. Sundays were reserved for watching Bollywood DVDs.

In that great scene near the end of Analyse This, Bill Crystal says "who am I? that is a question for the ages". The Indian Sages have pondered this question for ages. One of them, Sant Dnyaneshwar*, wrote of that divinely blissful feeling of liberation he felt when he discovered himself. Of course, he was describing his bliss when he received enlightenment.

My self-realization was very different from his. I found who I was, a guy who like to lie in bed and watch movies and TV. As Sant Dnyaneshwar wrote nearly 800 years ago, with this self-realization all my doubt was resolved and in its place came a sense of deep inner peace. My friends and close ones, the "educated Indian" sort - modern, liberal yuppies or ex-yuppies who strive to follow every trend that is in vogue, were both outraged and saddened.

But magically as it were, around that time, my HDL level began increasing. Within a couple of years of this disciplined movie-TV watching over the weekend, my HDL reached levels of my dreams. In addition, my Cholesterol/LDL ratio and the HDL/LDL ratio reached "ideal" levels. They remain so to this day.

How is that possible? Even I wondered. Then I saw an article in the New York Times that seemed to suggest that the real benefit of exercise seems to be that it makes people feel good. In other words, the physical exercise may not the main benefit. The main benefit may come from the happy feeling it creates in the people who enjoy exercise. My doubts were resolved. If I get the same good feeling by lying in bed and watching Bollywood films, it should have the same benefits that exercise provides others. To many this might sound ludicrous and utterly self-serving, but to me it makes perfect sense.

A point of posture if I may. TV anchors often speak disparagingly of "couch potatoes". They are so clueless. Serious TV watchers do not use the couch. It is bad for the back and the spine. The anchors should read what Jerry, the western cowhand, said to an English visitor in a Louis L'Amour novel. As Jerry explained "In England, they ride for about an hour or so. That is why they use the English saddle. But the western cowhand spends 15-16 hours in the saddle, he eats in the saddle and sleeps in the saddle. You need a comfortable western saddle to do that".

This is the perfect analogy for TV watching. A couch is fine if you watch TV for an hour or two. But if you want to watch 14-15 hours of TV in a day, you need a king-size bed, a firm mattress, good pillows and end tables where you can put your drink and food. Only then, can you lie down all day, eat in bed and do your TV watching regimen in bodily comfort. This is good for your spine, your inner peace and your heart, as has been the case for me.

Why write this article now? The first trigger was the Time.com article about exercise. The second was the result of my heart scan that I received a couple of days ago. For those who do not know, this is great technology. It is called an Electronic Beam Tomography scan. They use it to scan the arteries of your heart to find levels of plaque in your arteries. This is only direct visual measure of plaque in your blood vessels that I know. Others like HDL, LDL, Cholesterol etc. are indirect measures that enable you to infer the condition of your arteries but do not provide a direct measurement.

I was thrilled to see that my plaque level after seven years of my weekend regimen is zero, yes Zero. Further, according to the cardiological radiologist, the probability of me getting a heart attack is less than 0.2%.

Clearly I do not know whether my weekend life style is responsible for my cholesterol and plaque levels. But just as clearly, it does not do any harm. And it provides me pleasure and a sense of inner peace. Why can't my "educated" friends understand this?


* Editor's Postscript: I have enormous respect and devotion towards Sant Dnyaneshwar. He was the founder of the Bhagwat-Dharma in Maharashtra, the dharma of deep devotion that pervades the State of Maharashtra and all of India. Sant Namdeo carried this movement into North India and Sant Tukaram was its pinnacle some 300 odd years later.

Dnyaneshwar translated the Bhagwat-Geeta from Sanskrut into Marathi and transformed Marathi from a language of farmers and rural labor into a language embraced by the intellectual elite of Maharashtra. His poetry is simply out of the world. Today, 800 years after him passing, his poems are sung in every Marathi speaking household worldwide. How rare is this? Just ask yourself, how many English speaking families recite Chaucer in their homes?

In our article, we have used our interpretation of the words of Dnyaneshwar to provide a humorous but heart-felt analogy for our viewpoints. That is not only our right but our tradition. Just look at how many ways the Bhagwat-Geeta has been interpreted over the past 4000 odd years? So we do not intend to give offense to any body by quoting the great Sant in our article.

World's Biggest Airplane!!!

32 wheels! -- Cost's more than my house to rotate the tires! The World's Biggest Airplane, the Russian Antonov 225. These pics are of the Russian behemoth when it came into Medford,OR,USA to pick up two Sikorsky fire fighting helicopters to take overseas. The cost - Only $1,000,000 to transport them!

While they were loading the helicopters, the Russian pilots (two crews), went into town to buy cigarettes by the case and Levis jeans. It is amazing something this huge can stay in the air. The Wright brothers would never have dreamed about this!

Give up alcohol, coffee - it's better than IVF

Women wanting to become pregnant are as likely to succeed by giving up alcohol and caffeine as by attending a fertility clinic, a UK nutrition specialist claims.

Dr Emma Derbyshire, of Manchester Metropolitan University, said 32 per cent of those having trouble conceiving became pregnant by giving up stimulants, compared to 33 per cent after IVF treatment.

And she revealed quitting smoking was as important as a healthy diet in improving a woman's fertility.

Dr Derbyshire said couples should tackle their unhealthy lifestyles first before choosing expensive fertility treatment.

"Women wanting to get pregnant stand nearly the same chance of conceiving if they cut out alcohol and caffeine as if they attend an IVF clinic for fertility treatment," she said.

Australian Medical Association state president Andrew Lavender said while a healthy diet was vital for women trying to get pregnant, in some cases it "just isn't that simple".

"The vast majority of people seeking IVF are doing so because there are other underlying health issues and they are eating healthy and doing all of those sorts of things, it's gone beyond that," he said.

Park Holme mother-of-three Karen Cameron, 33, who gave birth to daughter Lilly three weeks ago and has two other children, Jordan, 6, and Hudson, 4, with husband Michael, was not surprised by Dr Emma Derbyshire's comments.

"I drink very little alcohol and stopped when we were trying to fall pregnant. I don't drink tea or coffee and I fell pregnant with each of my children very easily," she said.

"I think that healthy diet definitely played a role in that."

The Use Of Immunofluorescence In Microdissection Testicular Sperm Extraction

Microdissection testicular sperm extraction is a procedure used to extract sperm from patients with irreversible non-obstructive azoospermia. Sperm extracted are then used for in vitro fertilization (IVF). While this technique has improved the sperm retrieval rate compared to other biopsy techniques, sperm are still often not retrieved. The purpose of our research was to develop a technique for identifying small foci of sperm for retrieval for use in IVF.

After injecting the seminiferous tubules of fertile mice testes with a mouse antibody specific for the human acrosome, we could identify sperm in the majority of animals using confocal microscopy on excised testes. Performance of the same procedure on sterile mice did not reveal any fluorescent signal.

Though pleased with the results of our research, there are several limiting factors that must be addressed prior to practical clinical use. First, injection of human seminiferous tubules and achieving adequate antibody distribution might prove more difficult as the seminiferous tubules are longer, and it will likely require increased hydrostatic pressure to disperse the antibody. This pressure may prove problematic and lead to rupture of the tubules.

Second, while the antibody did bind to the sperm, it was not as selective as anticipated. There was binding of the antibody to both the head and tail of spermatozoa, not just the acrosome. This could have been due to the fact that a mouse-derived antibody was used in a mouse model, which could possibly be associated with the occurrence of a significant amount of non-specific binding of the sperm. There was also background staining within the tubules, making identification of the sperm more difficult. Also, it is still unknown the extent to which the antibody will prove to be detrimental to the sperm, rendering it unusable for IVF.

Lastly, in our animal model the testes were excised from the mice prior to microscopic analysis since the specimen being observed under the confocal microscope required water submersion. Obviously, a different method of analyzing human testicular tissue in situ is required. Intraoperative performance of the confocal microscopy could address this problem, but providing the necessary equipment for this procedure in the operating room may prove challenging.

Despite the obstacles facing practical use of immunofluorescence in microdissection testicular sperm extraction, we are encouraged by the results of our study. More research is certainly needed to evaluate the feasibility of this technique in humans.

Written by Jason R. Greenhalgh, MD, Thomas S. Griffith, PhD, and Moshe Wald, MD as part of Beyond the Abstract on UroToday.com.

Human egg-trafficking business exposed in Romania

Two Israeli doctors and one Romanian are being detained by a special Romanian investigative police unit after raids on a Romanian IVF clinic suspected to be involved in international human egg and stem-cell trafficking. The Romanian department for fighting organized crime (DIICOT) announced in a statement that 'the group was focusing on identifying foreign couples eager to resort to assisted reproduction techniques and on grabbing Romanian (women) aged 18-30 to donate ova for 800 to 1,000 lei' (around £165 to £205).

The Sabyc Clinic in Bucharest, run by Israeli gynaecologist Harry Mironescu, has performed more than 1,200 IVF cycles over the last ten years. However at no point has it been licensed to provide such procedures and DIICOT stated that all were thus carried out illegally. The recipients of the majority of these cycles were Israeli, British and Italian women.

At the time of the raid around thirty people were arrested at the clinic (with the majority of them reported to have been Israelis). Of these, two Israelis – Professor Nathan Levitt and Dr. Genya Ziskind – and three Romanians have been put under house arrest on charges of human egg-trafficking, involvement in a criminal group, and practicing medicine without a permit. The two Israelis have been warned not to attempt to leave the country. The owners of the fertility and cosmetic surgery clinic, father-son pair Harry and Yair Miron, are also being held by the Romanian authorities.

In Israel legislation that would have relaxed rules on egg donation to allow those not undergoing IVF to donate eggs, though not in exchange for payment, has been put on hold. Israel has strict rules on egg donation and though IVF cycles are provided without additional charge as part of the national health benefits (helping Israel have the highest availability of IVF in the world), the eggs used in these procedures must be purchased individually.

Last month a study into cross-border fertility treatment in Europe showed that every year, thousands of women from Britain are travelling abroad to access treatment which is unavailable to them at home. The study, presented at the annual conference of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), estimated that 20,000 to 25,000 cross-border treatment cycles take place per year.

Not your child’s biological parent? You may still have an influence on their genes

I am not a scientist. My life-long field of interest has always been human development and relationships. But, as a parent of two donor-conceived young adults and Manager of the Donor Conception Network (DC Network), I also have more than a passing curiosity about the extent of the influence of genetic inheritance on an individual's way of being in the world. Having met adult half-siblings of one of the earliest sperm donors I have been shocked by the likeness of intelligence and speech patterns as well as facial features. Parents of donor-conceived children mostly do not spend a lot of time thinking about what their child might have inherited from their donor. Whilst not attempting to deny the role of genetics, DC Network members prefer to think about how much they can influence their child's life through the love and security they provide and the values that they will pass on. My own training and background convinces me that the provision of a loving and secure environment does have a profound effect, but what if the previously thought of ‘non-genetic' parent could have a genetic influence as well…an epigenetic one?

The term epigenetics first came to my attention about 18 months ago. Browsing a well known infertility web forum I came across a post which told of a branch of science that was proving that recipients of donated eggs could have an influence on how genes were ‘turned on' in the child they were carrying. It referred to an example from the equine world:

‘In horse breeding for example, it's not uncommon to implant a pony embryo into the womb of a horse. The foals that result are different from normal ponies. They're bigger. These animals' genotype – their genes – are the same as a pony's, but their phenotype – what their genes actually look like in the living animal – is different. The implication of epigenetics is that the child inherits characteristics from the woman who carries the child even if the original DNA comes from a donor egg. In other words the birth mother influences what the child is like at a genetic level - it IS her child.'

A flurry of postings followed which immediately latched on to the meaning that the posters desperately wanted it to have. This would not be a child that was not genetically connected to them at all… in fact, perhaps the donor could be air-brushed out of the picture because if genes were altered by the environment of the womb and the mothers were able to contribute to a baby's wellbeing through good diet etc, then maybe the donor didn't need to be acknowledged at all.

Whilst DC Network actively encourages would-be parents, those pregnant or already with donor-conceived children to own their status and authority as true parents, we are also clear that early honesty about beginnings is fundamental to healthy family relationships. Denial of the role of the donor is not helpful to child or parent, but, if epigenetics was able to show that a recipient of donated eggs exerts an influence on the way genes are expressed or silenced, what would this mean? At the very least it could be comforting information for women and their partners who discover that the only way they are likely to be able to have a child is with the help of an egg donor.

Sandy Starr of the Progress Educational Trust wrote to me when I first mentioned the way I had noticed emerging epigenetic information being used, saying that ‘the fallacy most commonly associated with classical genetics has been ‘genetic determinism', where more is ascribed to genes that they can truthfully account for. We may see a new fallacy of ‘epigenetic determinism', where epigenetics is used in the same way – for instance to overstate the influence of the recipient mother and impugn the contribution of the donor. Or conversely, we could see a fallacy of ‘epigenetic relativism' where the complexity of epigenetics is used as a pretext to dismiss all claims of genetic influence, which would allow people to dismiss the genetic contribution of the donor as effectively unknowable and therefore irrelevant'.

The challenge for Progress Educational Trust - and I am delighted that their autumn conference is focusing on this topic - is to come to a settled position about what the term ‘epigenetics' really means, and then to make sure that the implications for each area that this science applies to (cancer, mental health, reproductive medicine etc) are carefully unraveled and explained for non-scientists like me and disseminated in ways and in places that can genuinely inform and guide those for whom it may have great meaning.

If are interested in attending PET's annual conference Does Genetics Matter? Help, Hype and the New Horizon of Epigenetics, taking place in East London on Wednesday 18 November, contact Sandy Starr at sstarr@progress.org.uk or on +44 (0)20 7278 7870.

By Olivia Montuschi
Manager of the Donor Conception Network (DC Network)

If you want grandchildren, pay for IVF for your ageing daughters

Would-be grandparents funding IVF treatments? Sounds wonderful. It is in the best tradition of families caring for each of their members and I’m delighted to see that such coherent and selfless families still exist.

There is already plenty of evidence that they do, of course. Grandparents account for a third of all childcare, taking on the burden of noisy toddlers to free up their daughters or daughters-in-law to go to work.

Wealthier grandparents regularly pay for private school fees, perhaps even hoping the offspring will follow in their shoes . . . to Eton, Harrow, St Paul’s. Even at the local comprehensive, grandparents may fund the extras: piano lessons, football coaching and school trips. The time to be generous is while children are young. Why hoard your money until the need has passed, only to hand it over in death duties?

If daughters get to 35 before wanting children, they are more likely to need IVF. And the cost is soaring. By then, of course, would-be grandparents are holding their breath with hope and apprehension. The yearning to be a grandparent can be powerful, news of friends and relatives becoming grannies and grandads hard to bear.

But there is a caveat: IVF is stressful and often disappointing. Would-be grandparents must face the prospect of their money being lost. More importantly, their own end-of-life care is likely to be more costly than they imagine. Living longer will mean providing for more years without earnings: middle-aged people aren’t saving enough to provide for themselves, let alone their offspring.

As a consequence it’s only the really well-off who can afford to pay for their children’s IVF. And longing for a child pays no regard to money.

I feel sorry for those without the means.

Joan Bakewell , Times Online, UK

What You Sell?

Two Australian businessmen in Brisbane were sitting down for a break in their new store. As yet, the store wasn't ready, with no stock and only a few shelves set up.

One said to the other, 'I bet any minute now some idiot tourist is going to walk by, put his face to the window, and ask what we're selling'.

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when, sure enough, a curious Japanese tourist walked to the window, had a peek, and in a thick Japanese accent asked

'What you sell?'
One of the men replied sarcastically, 'We're selling arse-holes.'

Without skipping a beat, the Japanese man said,

'You doing velly well, only two left'.

Mallu Joke

A beautiful "Mallu" female (from the heart of Kerala) went for a job interview for the post of a SECRETARY and also said she is good at English. When the manager saw the Mallu's colorful attire, gold, well oiled uncombed jet black hair, his mind was screaming "NOT THIS WOMAN".

Nevertheless, he still had to entertain the Mallu. So he told her "If you could form a sentence using the words that I give you, then maybe I will give you a chance! The words are GREEN, PINK, YELLOW, BLUE, WHITE, PURPLE and BLACK".

The enthusiastic Mallu lady thought for a while and said :
"I hear the phone GREEN GREEN GREEN, then I go and PINK up the phone, I say YELLOW....BLUE'S that? WHITE did you say? Aiye, wrong number....Don't PURPLELY disturb people and don't call BLACK, ok? Thank You."

The Manager fainted.....

Panda cub born using frozen sperm IVF

You You, a panda at the Wolong Giant Panda Research Centre in southwestern Sichuan province, gave birth after IVF treatment in what is believed to be the first successful pregnancy among the species using the frozen sperm technique.

"We did try before but it failed," said Huang Yan, a deputy research technician with the China Panda Preservation Research Centre.

The technique has been tried in other countries but this was the first known instance of a live birth, he said.

The sperm from a male panda, Lolo, had been frozen for "a number of years", said Mr Huang.

Artificial insemination is commonly used for breeding pandas, which have a very low sex drive. In 2006, 34 pandas were born through artificial insemination in China and 30 survived - both record numbers for the endangered species. The technique has also been used at zoos in the United States.

However, using panda sperm that has been frozen earlier - instead of from an immediate donor - had not been successful before.

The technique, if it can be replicated, will be a positive boost for panda conservation efforts. Only about 1,600 pandas live in the wild.

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