Sunday, July 11, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Air pollution can stop woman getting pregnant through IVF
Excessive exposure to air pollution might increase the chance of In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) failure, a new study has found.
A team of fertility experts tested more than 7,000 women undergoing IVF in various American hospitals and analysed the results over seven years - from 2000 to 2007, telegraph.co.uk reported.
Dr Duanping Liao, a professor of epidemiology at Penn State College of Medicine, Pennsylvania, who worked on the research, said: "Numerous studies have consistently shown a relationship between air pollution and human health, ranging from mortality, cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions.
"In the process of searching for the mechanisms responsible for the above associations, we, and others, have reported significant links between air pollution and inflammation and increased blood clotting.
"These intermediate factors are also associated with reproductive health."
Experts say that burning of fossil fuels and diesel are the main causes of nitrogen dioxide production.
The researchers worked out daily pollution concentrations for each patient during the entire IVF process and pregnancy.
Dr Liao added: "Since IVF is a well controlled and highly timed process, we have a much better handle on the assessment of the time of exposures to elevated air pollutants in relationship to fertilisation, pregnancy, and delivery.
"Therefore, the IVF population coupled with detailed assessment of air pollution exposures may provide us an ideal situation to investigate the potential health effects of air quality on human reproduction."
A team of fertility experts tested more than 7,000 women undergoing IVF in various American hospitals and analysed the results over seven years - from 2000 to 2007, telegraph.co.uk reported.
Dr Duanping Liao, a professor of epidemiology at Penn State College of Medicine, Pennsylvania, who worked on the research, said: "Numerous studies have consistently shown a relationship between air pollution and human health, ranging from mortality, cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions.
"In the process of searching for the mechanisms responsible for the above associations, we, and others, have reported significant links between air pollution and inflammation and increased blood clotting.
"These intermediate factors are also associated with reproductive health."
Experts say that burning of fossil fuels and diesel are the main causes of nitrogen dioxide production.
The researchers worked out daily pollution concentrations for each patient during the entire IVF process and pregnancy.
Dr Liao added: "Since IVF is a well controlled and highly timed process, we have a much better handle on the assessment of the time of exposures to elevated air pollutants in relationship to fertilisation, pregnancy, and delivery.
"Therefore, the IVF population coupled with detailed assessment of air pollution exposures may provide us an ideal situation to investigate the potential health effects of air quality on human reproduction."
Friday, July 9, 2010
Golf shot of the century!
At the Master’s every year they have a practice round (every tournament does).
The 16th hole is a par three with water from the Tee box all the way to green.
The tradition during the practice round is for the pro’s to try and skip their ball
over the water onto the green.
The one’s who don’t try to skip their ball over the water get booed.
This is a clip of Vijay Singh skipping his ball over the water on Hole #16 during the practice round.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Oil spill hits 60th day
Saturday will mark 60 days since the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon and beginning of one of the worst oil spills in history. On Friday, signaling a shift in strategy to fight against the ruptured well in the Gulf, the Coast Guard began ramping up efforts to capture oil closer to shore. Adm. Thad Allen said an estimated 2,000 private boats in the so-called "vessels of opportunity" program will be more closely linked through a tighter command and control structure to direct them to locations less than 50 miles offshore to skim the oil. Allen, the point man for the federal response to the spill, previously had said surface containment efforts would be concentrated much farther offshore. Estimates of the oil being siphoned from the well a mile below the Gulf are growing. Allen said more than 1.2 million gallons was sucked up to containment vessels Thursday.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Autism in a test tube? Research suggests link between IVF treatments and autism
In a recent study, Dr. Ditza Zachor of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine reported a strong link between IVF and mild to moderate cases of autism. Her findings were presented last month at the International Meeting for Autism Research in Philadelphia.
According to her research at the Autism Center at the Assaf Harofeh Medical Center in Israel, which Dr. Zachor directs, 10.5% of 461 children diagnosed with a disorder on the autism spectrum were conceived using IVF, a significantly higher number than the 3.5% autism rate in the general Israeli population.
Other factors in play
While the study doesn't draw any definitive conclusions, it presents some urgent questions, says Dr. Zachor. "It's too early to make a serious deduction based on that evidence alone," she says, citing other birth-related factors in her study, such as low birth rate and prematurity. Dr. Zachor's ongoing research will attempt to separate out these risk factors to come up with more precise numbers for autism and other prenatal conditions in IVF.
The key may be "imprinting," a biochemical procedure during cell division which determines which genes will be selected or "expressed" in the embryo. Research into epigenetics -- changes in gene expression that occur without a change in the DNA sequence -- suggest that the malformations may be caused by imprinting abnormalities introduced into the embryo while it's in a test tube environment, says Dr. Zachor. One such disorder linked with IVF appears to be Angelman syndrome.
However, Dr. Zachor does not want to discourage infertile couples from undergoing IVF implantation, which most often results in a healthy child.
Age-appropriate fertility treatments
Dr. Zachor notes that mothers in her study who had IVF tended to be older ― with a median age of 32.6 years. Also significantly, nearly 4% of the children with autism were born prematurely, and about 5% of those had a low birth weight. In the general population, only about 1% of all newborns are delivered with a low birth weight.
Aware of these risks, however, health practitioners may be able to intervene and find ways to avoid the problems, the researcher says. For example, they might recommend that IVF treatments be delayed for a longer period, despite any psychological stress this might cause to would-be parents. Some researchers believe that unassisted fertilization is a better way to avoid negative health effects.
"Many infertile couples choose this procedure, and they need to know whether there is a risk of autism," concludes Dr. Zachor. She stresses, however, that most women who undergo fertility treatments should not be scared away from IVF procedures: the majority of children born using IVF do not have autism, and most children who have autism were not conceived using IVF.
According to her research at the Autism Center at the Assaf Harofeh Medical Center in Israel, which Dr. Zachor directs, 10.5% of 461 children diagnosed with a disorder on the autism spectrum were conceived using IVF, a significantly higher number than the 3.5% autism rate in the general Israeli population.
Other factors in play
While the study doesn't draw any definitive conclusions, it presents some urgent questions, says Dr. Zachor. "It's too early to make a serious deduction based on that evidence alone," she says, citing other birth-related factors in her study, such as low birth rate and prematurity. Dr. Zachor's ongoing research will attempt to separate out these risk factors to come up with more precise numbers for autism and other prenatal conditions in IVF.
The key may be "imprinting," a biochemical procedure during cell division which determines which genes will be selected or "expressed" in the embryo. Research into epigenetics -- changes in gene expression that occur without a change in the DNA sequence -- suggest that the malformations may be caused by imprinting abnormalities introduced into the embryo while it's in a test tube environment, says Dr. Zachor. One such disorder linked with IVF appears to be Angelman syndrome.
However, Dr. Zachor does not want to discourage infertile couples from undergoing IVF implantation, which most often results in a healthy child.
Age-appropriate fertility treatments
Dr. Zachor notes that mothers in her study who had IVF tended to be older ― with a median age of 32.6 years. Also significantly, nearly 4% of the children with autism were born prematurely, and about 5% of those had a low birth weight. In the general population, only about 1% of all newborns are delivered with a low birth weight.
Aware of these risks, however, health practitioners may be able to intervene and find ways to avoid the problems, the researcher says. For example, they might recommend that IVF treatments be delayed for a longer period, despite any psychological stress this might cause to would-be parents. Some researchers believe that unassisted fertilization is a better way to avoid negative health effects.
"Many infertile couples choose this procedure, and they need to know whether there is a risk of autism," concludes Dr. Zachor. She stresses, however, that most women who undergo fertility treatments should not be scared away from IVF procedures: the majority of children born using IVF do not have autism, and most children who have autism were not conceived using IVF.
Monday, July 5, 2010
IVF Babies and Major Birth Defects
Slightly more than 4% of babies born via assisted reproductive technology such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) may have major birth defects, such as heart and urogenital tract malformations, according to a new study.
But U.S. experts are quick to point out that these risks are not much different from what would be expected in the general population. And the risks are much lower than what has been found in some other studies of babies born as a result of fertility treatments. The new research is slated to be presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Genetics in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The study looked at the rate of major and minor birth defects among 15,162 births from 33 French fertility clinics. Parents and their pediatricians filled out questionnaires regarding infants’ health status, and this information was compared with data from national registers and other studies. Children in the study were born via IVF, a process in which egg and sperm are fertilized in a petri dish and then implanted in the woman’s uterus, and/or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which involves injecting a single sperm into an egg. IVF can also be performed with ICSI.
The major birth defects seen in babies born via IVF and/or ICSI included heart defects and malformations of the urogenital tract, such as hypospadias (an abnormality in the position of the opening of the urethra in boys). In the study, 110 children had genetic disorders, including six children with Beckwith-Weidemann syndrome, which is marked by body overgrowth, and may increase risk of certain cancers. Five children also had bilateral retinoblastoma (cancer of the eye’s retina).
Children born via assisted reproductive technology had a five times higher rate for minor birth defects such as angiomas (a benign tumor of small blood vessels causing a red growth on the skin). Angiomas were twice as common in girls as in boys, the study found.
It is not fully understood whether these birth defects or genetic diseases are caused by the infertility treatment itself or the underlying reason for infertility. Follow-up studies are planned, the researchers say.
Major malformations were more common among children born at low birth weights, but not those born prematurely, the study showed. Parental age at conception did not influence the rate of birth defects.
“Fertility doctors must be informed about the increased risks of imprinting disorders and major malformations because if couples raise questions specifically on this topic, they have to answer as precisely as possible,” Geraldine B. Viot, MD, a clinical geneticist at the Maternité Port Royal Hospital, Paris, France, says in an email. Imprinting disorders occur because of a mutation in a gene inherited from either the mother or the father.
“I'm not sure that women and men undergoing [fertility treatment] should be informed systematically about these risks, as couples having children naturally ignore the risk of major malformations,” she says.
What’s more, “our results are not so different from the general population and I consider them rather reassuring as some previously reported studies showed increased risk of major malformations around 9% to 11%,” she says.
Zev Rosenwaks, MD, the director of Perelman/Cohen Center for Reproductive Medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, tells WebMD that more information is needed before any conclusions can be drawn about risks associated with assisted reproductive technology.
The rate of multiple pregnancies is often higher in children born after fertility treatment, he says. “Multiples have higher rates of abnormalities, and this may have affected the findings,” he says.
Counseling about possible risks associated with fertility treatment and informed consent are an important part of the fertility treatment process, he says.
“On our first visit, we review the risks,” he says. “I tell them they have to basically look at what their risk truly is and then determine whether they would choose not to have a baby or choose to have a baby despite a possible increased risk of certain birth defects.”
Not all birth defects are considered serious, he says.
“Angioma is a minor abnormality that can disappear,” he says.
“Even in the worst case scenario, the risk [of birth defects] is low,” says Jamie Grifo, MD, PhD, program director of New York University Fertility Center in New York City. “Your risk may be higher because you are infertile or because you are being treated for infertility, but it is still a low number,” he tells WebMD.
“The risks are about the same that you take getting pregnant at home in bed and no one gives informed consent for that,” he says. “Discuss your concerns with your doctor, but don’t be alarmed. Understand the risks and make decisions based on these risks. There are millions of babies and millions of parents who would not be parents if not for reproductive technology."
But U.S. experts are quick to point out that these risks are not much different from what would be expected in the general population. And the risks are much lower than what has been found in some other studies of babies born as a result of fertility treatments. The new research is slated to be presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Genetics in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The study looked at the rate of major and minor birth defects among 15,162 births from 33 French fertility clinics. Parents and their pediatricians filled out questionnaires regarding infants’ health status, and this information was compared with data from national registers and other studies. Children in the study were born via IVF, a process in which egg and sperm are fertilized in a petri dish and then implanted in the woman’s uterus, and/or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which involves injecting a single sperm into an egg. IVF can also be performed with ICSI.
The major birth defects seen in babies born via IVF and/or ICSI included heart defects and malformations of the urogenital tract, such as hypospadias (an abnormality in the position of the opening of the urethra in boys). In the study, 110 children had genetic disorders, including six children with Beckwith-Weidemann syndrome, which is marked by body overgrowth, and may increase risk of certain cancers. Five children also had bilateral retinoblastoma (cancer of the eye’s retina).
Children born via assisted reproductive technology had a five times higher rate for minor birth defects such as angiomas (a benign tumor of small blood vessels causing a red growth on the skin). Angiomas were twice as common in girls as in boys, the study found.
It is not fully understood whether these birth defects or genetic diseases are caused by the infertility treatment itself or the underlying reason for infertility. Follow-up studies are planned, the researchers say.
Major malformations were more common among children born at low birth weights, but not those born prematurely, the study showed. Parental age at conception did not influence the rate of birth defects.
“Fertility doctors must be informed about the increased risks of imprinting disorders and major malformations because if couples raise questions specifically on this topic, they have to answer as precisely as possible,” Geraldine B. Viot, MD, a clinical geneticist at the Maternité Port Royal Hospital, Paris, France, says in an email. Imprinting disorders occur because of a mutation in a gene inherited from either the mother or the father.
“I'm not sure that women and men undergoing [fertility treatment] should be informed systematically about these risks, as couples having children naturally ignore the risk of major malformations,” she says.
What’s more, “our results are not so different from the general population and I consider them rather reassuring as some previously reported studies showed increased risk of major malformations around 9% to 11%,” she says.
Zev Rosenwaks, MD, the director of Perelman/Cohen Center for Reproductive Medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, tells WebMD that more information is needed before any conclusions can be drawn about risks associated with assisted reproductive technology.
The rate of multiple pregnancies is often higher in children born after fertility treatment, he says. “Multiples have higher rates of abnormalities, and this may have affected the findings,” he says.
Counseling about possible risks associated with fertility treatment and informed consent are an important part of the fertility treatment process, he says.
“On our first visit, we review the risks,” he says. “I tell them they have to basically look at what their risk truly is and then determine whether they would choose not to have a baby or choose to have a baby despite a possible increased risk of certain birth defects.”
Not all birth defects are considered serious, he says.
“Angioma is a minor abnormality that can disappear,” he says.
“Even in the worst case scenario, the risk [of birth defects] is low,” says Jamie Grifo, MD, PhD, program director of New York University Fertility Center in New York City. “Your risk may be higher because you are infertile or because you are being treated for infertility, but it is still a low number,” he tells WebMD.
“The risks are about the same that you take getting pregnant at home in bed and no one gives informed consent for that,” he says. “Discuss your concerns with your doctor, but don’t be alarmed. Understand the risks and make decisions based on these risks. There are millions of babies and millions of parents who would not be parents if not for reproductive technology."
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