IVF may raise risk of diabetes, hypertension and cancer

People conceived through in vitro fertilisation treatment should be monitored for the early onset of high blood pressure, diabetes and certain cancers before the age of 50, according to a fertility specialist.

While IVF is generally considered to produce healthy babies, doctors have identified subtle genetic changes that may raise the risk of particular medical conditions in later life.

Since the birth of the first test tube baby, Louise Brown, on 25 July 1978, more than three million babies have been born through fertility treatment around the world. The vast majority are still under the age of 30.

The extent to which IVF babies develop more hypertension, diabetes and cancer will begin to emerge over the next two decades as they enter middle age, doctors said.

"By and large these children are just fine, it's not like they have extra arms or extra heads, but they have a small risk of undesirable outcomes. What's going to happen to them down the line? Bear in mind none is older than 31-years-old," said Carmen Sapienza, professor of pathology at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

"They have a much higher frequency of being low birthweight and this results in a higher tendency to be obese, a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and hypertension when you reach 50 years old," Sapienza told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego on Monday.

In 2006, the Department of Health warned that Britain was facing a new wave of cancer on the back of increasing obesity in the population.

Obesity plays a role in 4% of cancers, including breast and womb cancer, and has also been linked to the disease in the bowel and kidney. In most cases, hormones released from fat are to blame.

"It makes sense for IVF children to watch out for hypertension, obesity and related diabetes and cancers as they reach their fifties," Sapienza said. "It will be interesting to monitor these children."

Meet the frozen sperm siblings born 15 years after their father was left infertile from cancer

As a family photograph, it is hardly out of the ordinary - two-year-old Mariella hugs her baby brother Herbie.

Yet for parents Ian and Alison Morris, it is a reminder that these are the children they never thought they could have.

Mariella and seven-month-old Herbie were born using Mr Morris's frozen sperm, stored for an astonishing 13 years after cancer treatment left him infertile.

Following his successful battle against the disease, the couple had several unsuccessful attempts at starting a family using IVF and were close to giving up in despair.

But one final try, in February 2007, worked and Mariella was born the following October.

Incredibly, the couple then had a second success last year with Herbie, by which time Mr Morris's sperm had been frozen for 15 years.

Mrs Morris, 37, said: 'I thought I'd never be a mum so to have our two miracle frozen babies really is the most wonderful thing.'

Mr Morris, 49, a design engineer, was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia in March 1994, three years after the couple married.

His wife, a buyer for a television shopping channel, said: 'We were just so shocked. The level of cancer in cells in his body was so high that the doctors said they were amazed he was still standing.'

Fortunately, Mr Morris's brother Barry was the perfect match for a life-saving bone marrow transplant.

Before the treatment, which involved chemotherapy, doctors warned him to have his sperm frozen as he would be left infertile.

After Mr Morris's recovery, the couple, of Grantham, Lincolnshire, decided to try for a family in 2002.

Mrs Morris said: 'We had been really hopeful when we had our first try at IVF as we knew there was nothing wrong with me, and we were using the frozen sperm. So when it didn't work we were devastated.'

A second and third attempt failed before they went to specialist clinic Care Fertility in Nottingham for a last try.

Mrs Morris said: 'We only had two embryos of good enough quality so we knew we didn't have much of a chance. So when I did a pregnancy test and saw the positive blue line, I just couldn't believe my eyes.

'I went for a scan at six weeks... when I saw the tiny heartbeat on the screen I just burst into tears.'

The record for a live birth from frozen sperm is 21 years, in Manchester in 2002.

Cancer dad who went through IVF despite knowing he won't live to see his baby girl grow up

Cradling his newborn baby for the first time is a huge milestone in any father’s life – one of those moments he will never forget.

But for Eamon Gorman, who has had chemotherapy every other week for the past two years, holding his little Maisie, was extra poignant.

Because Eamon does not know if he will live long enough to see his beautiful little girl grow up.

Eamon, 35, is being treated for bowel cancer. “When I held Maisie in my arms, I knew every battle had been worth it,” he says.

“I’m certain positive thinking and living for a future have kept me alive.

“I don’t want to know how long I’ve got, because I refuse to give up on life.”

Eamon’s wife Kate agrees. “We don’t talk about the sad stuff. Eamon is so strong, we just try to enjoy the time we have together and do nice things as a family.”

His diagnosis in July 2007 turned their world on its head. Eamon had started feeling ill on a flight home from Cyprus, but his only symptom was frequent toilet visits.

Until then he’d been fit and healthy. But within days his doctor referred him to hospital for bowel tests.

Kate, 28, says: “I was called in from the waiting room to be with Eamon. The consultant told us he was fairly sure it was bowel cancer.

“That moment our lives changed.”

A week later bowel cancer was confirmed, and subsequent scans revealed the tumour had spread to his lymph nodes, carrying rogue cells to his liver and his lungs.

Eamon says: “I decided to remain positive.

“When I was told it was cancer, I thought: ‘I can beat this.’ Then when I was told it was terminal, I thought: ‘Well, I will live as long as I possibly can’.”

Eamon didn’t want to know the prognosis.

He says: “If they had given me a date, I’d have seen it as a death sentence. I decided I’d rather not know so it wouldn’t put limitations on me or our life. Instead, I chose to take one day at a time.”

The news of Eamon’s illness had so many implications, not least his loss of fertility. So when the nurse asked straight after diagnosis if they wanted to freeze some of Eamon’s sperm, they immediately agreed.

Kate says: “I’m so grateful to that nurse because if she hadn’t asked that question, we wouldn’t have thought about it. Even though Eamon had a terminal diagnosis, we’d always planned to have children – it was at top of our list – and his cancer didn’t change that. We had already started trying.”

The couple had been planning to marry a year later but brought the wedding forward to August 2007, five weeks after Eamon’s diagnosis and two weeks after he started chemotherapy.

By then he had also provided the sperm which they hoped would allow them to start a family.

Kate, a part-time trainer, recalls: “It was a fantastic day of celebration.”

There was no honeymoon because Eamon needed chemo the day after the wedding.

As his treatment continued, the couple waited to find out whether they would be allowed to have IVF on the NHS.

A month after the wedding they went to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham for tests, and were referred under the NHS for proposed IVF treatment at the CARE Fertility Group in Nottingham. The couple had to have counselling, and their case had to be reviewed because of Eamon’s terminal diagnosis.

“It wasn’t until the following March that we finally got the go-ahead,” says Kate. Fertility treatment started in May 2008 when 12 eggs were removed from Kate, then two were injected with Eamon’s sperm to fertilise them and re-implanted.

Two weeks later the home pregnancy test was positive.

“We were in shock. I hadn’t dared to get my hopes up, but it was a dream come true,” recalls Kate.

Eamon adds: “We couldn’t believe there was good news after so much bad news. We were almost panicky with excitement!”

Kate did three pregnancy tests just to be sure – a scan confirmed everything was fine, and Eamon continued with fortnightly chemotherapy.

“Knowing Kate was pregnant kept me going,” he says.

Another high for soccer-mad Eamon was meeting the England football team last year thanks to the Willow Foundation charity, which provides morale-boosting experiences for people with life-threatening conditions.

But even that was no match for the joy of seeing his daughter Maisie Elizabeth born at the Royal Derby Hospital on May 17 this year.

Sadly Eamon was taken to hospital the next day after a bad reaction to the anti-cancer medication he was taking.

“That was a low point,’ says Kate.

“I’d just been allowed home with our new baby but Eamon wasn’t with me – he was being admitted to hospital as I was leaving.”

Support from friends and family kept the couple going, and a change in Eamon’s medication meant he was home with his wife and newborn daughter the following day.

Eamon is still having chemo but now has treatment at home in Derby to be with his wife and daughter.

“I will have a scan in November to see if the chemo is working. If it is, we would love to try for baby number two,” he reveals.

“I know some people will say I’ve brought a baby into the world who might end up without a father, but what’s important is that Maisie knows her father loved her very much.

“It upsets me to think I won’t see her grow up, but we take lots of photos and videos so she has memories of me.

I do think about how Kate will cope when I’m not here but that’s one reason we would like to have another child, so Maisie has a brother or sister. I spend all my time with her so we can build memories of our time together.”

Eamon, who is off sick from his job as a team leader, has signed legal documents giving Kate consent to use his sperm after his death, but she tries not to think about life without him.

“We never talk about how long Eamon has. We stay positive for each other and try to live life to the full.”

Eamon remains positive too. “Every day I wake up and tell myself I’m going to fight this, and everything’s going to be all right. I don’t feel sorry for myself.

“These are the cards I’ve been dealt so I get on with life rather than spend my days thinking about death.

“I consider myself lucky – I’ve met the girl of my dreams, and we have the most beautiful daughter.

“Every day I get to spend with my girls makes my life all the more precious.”

Dr George Ndukwe, medical director of CARE in Nottingham where the couple had IVF, said: “We are delighted to have helped Kate and Eamon. They have been through so much and we wish them all the best.”

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.

Cancer Meds Wiped Off Man's Fingerprints

A 62-year-old tourist was trying to enter the United States when he was stopped at customs to have his fingerprints scanned. This was a problem for both him and the customs agents, for he had no fingerprints.

The man, dubbed Mr. S in news reports, was detained for hours as agents checked to make sure he wasn't some sort of sneaky criminal or terrorist. But no, it turns out his fingerprints were removed without his knowledge.

He was taking capecitabine, a follow-up drug for chemotherapy for cancer of the head and neck. One of its side effects is inflammation of the palms and soles of the feet, which can cause peeling and bleeding of the skin and, eventually, can cause fingerprints to vanish.

Mr. S had been taking capecitabine for three years when he decided to visit relatives in the States, at which point his prints were gone. Luckily, he was eventually allowed to enter the country and visit his relatives once the officials determined that he wasn't dangerous.