A Big goal in IVF research is a test that reliably sorts dud embryos from those likely to develop into babies. Now differences in gene expression that seem to predict which embryos will go to term are bringing this a step closer.
Doctors usually decide which embryos to transfer to the uterus based purely on their appearance. Yet as only about 30 per cent of them fully develop, women often undergo multiple treatments or have several embryos implanted at once, which carries risks to both the mother and her embryos.
To try to improve the selection process, Gayle Jones at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues removed cells from the early embryos of 48 women undergoing IVF in Greece, 25 of whom went on to have babies. By comparing the babies' DNA and the genetic material in the early embryonic cells, the researchers identified 7317 sets of genetic instructions expressed by the viable embryos but not by those that failed to go to term (Human Reproduction, DOI: 10.1093/humanrep/den123).
They now hope to whittle down the list to about 10 genes that strongly predict which embryos will become babies. A test could be ready for use by doctors in two years, they say.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Couple Abandon "Wrong Sex" Babies
A couple who travelled to India for IVF treatment dumped their newborn twins at a British hospital when they found out they were girls. Reports said the mother, 59, and father, 72, travelled to India for fertility treatment that would not have been allowed in Britain because of their age.
The parents, who were born in India but are British citizens living in Birmingham, reportedly told doctors they did not want the "wrong sex" babies immediately after the children were born by Caesarean section in Wolverhampton's New Cross hospital a fortnight ago. The newspaper says the husband then asked medics how long it would be before his wife was fit enough to fly back to India for more IVF treatment in the hope of getting a boy to continue the family name.
It was reported the twins have now been transferred to a central Birmingham hospital, where they have not been visited a single time. A spokeswoman for New Cross Hospital said she could not make any comment because of "data protection reasons". Birmingham Council's social services department said it is investigating.
Countries such as India are known to display a cultural preference for sons. An NHS insider was reported to have said: "Everyone is utterly appalled. How could any parent do this? "This is Britain in the 21st century.
"But they just weren't prepared to raise these two beautiful girls."
Female babies are often abandoned in India for being the wrong sex – but it is the first time here. It is likely to send shockwaves of revulsion through multi-cultural Britain. An investigation by the BBC Asian Network last year revealed that between 1990 and 2005 almost 1,500 fewer girls were born to Indian mothers in England and Wales than would have been expected for that group.
The parents, who were born in India but are British citizens living in Birmingham, reportedly told doctors they did not want the "wrong sex" babies immediately after the children were born by Caesarean section in Wolverhampton's New Cross hospital a fortnight ago. The newspaper says the husband then asked medics how long it would be before his wife was fit enough to fly back to India for more IVF treatment in the hope of getting a boy to continue the family name.
It was reported the twins have now been transferred to a central Birmingham hospital, where they have not been visited a single time. A spokeswoman for New Cross Hospital said she could not make any comment because of "data protection reasons". Birmingham Council's social services department said it is investigating.
Countries such as India are known to display a cultural preference for sons. An NHS insider was reported to have said: "Everyone is utterly appalled. How could any parent do this? "This is Britain in the 21st century.
"But they just weren't prepared to raise these two beautiful girls."
Female babies are often abandoned in India for being the wrong sex – but it is the first time here. It is likely to send shockwaves of revulsion through multi-cultural Britain. An investigation by the BBC Asian Network last year revealed that between 1990 and 2005 almost 1,500 fewer girls were born to Indian mothers in England and Wales than would have been expected for that group.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Ballpoint baby sets record - just by being alive
When Amillia Taylor was born she weighed no more than a can of fizzy drink and was about the size of a ballpoint pen. The amazing picture of her tiny feet cradled in a doctor's hands stunned the world. That was when she broke all records by being born five months early and weighing barely 290g. The world's most premature baby is now a healthy 3.1kg and has multiplied in size.
Little Amillia is happily thriving, having beaten all the odds to survive, and is a picture of health. "She really is my little fighter and from the moment she was born I always knew that she would survive," Mrs Taylor said. "Compared with what she was like (when she was born) she's absolutely huge and I just love holding her.
"We do call her our little miracle and we never forget how fortunate we are.
"People talk about Amillia being the world's youngest baby. She might well be that, but to us she's just our Amillia and our dream come true."
Dad Eddie said: "Even before Amillia was born she was always going to be special, but when we think about what she's gone through to be here, she's extra, extra special".
While mum, 36, and dad, 46, fuss over Amillia, they know all too well it was a different story in October 2006.
Then, they were given the grim news that their first child, conceived by IVF, was unlikely to survive. Doctors in Miami had warned them they did not resuscitate babies who were born under 24 weeks. Mrs Taylor knew she was several weeks short of that cut-off point when she went into premature labour following a difficult pregnancy.
Doctors were able to delay the birth for 20 days, but, on October 24, 2006, were forced to carry out an emergency Caesarean operation. Amillia was delivered at just 21 weeks and six days. Full-term births are delivered between 37 and 40 weeks. She had spent less time in the womb than any other known baby and the tiny scrap of life weighed less than 290g. She was measured at 24cm long and her skin was so thin that doctors could clearly see the veins and bones.
Amillia was so fragile the doctor who delivered her tore off her left ear accidentally with his hand as he reached in to pull her out of the womb. The ear was later re-attached by a plastic surgeon. Amazing photographs of Amillia alongside a ballpoint pen showed to the world just how small she really was.
But Mrs Taylor, a special-needs teacher, knew her baby daughter always had the will to live. Having tried for more than a decade to have a child, she says she knew Amillia would pull through. She chose the name Amillia after browsing for names on the Internet. In Latin, the word means resilient.
"Very few babies born as early as Amillia survive, but as soon as Amillia came out she was trying to breathe," Mrs Taylor said.
"She was also trying to cry and also had one of her eyes half open. "Her lungs were only 15 per cent developed because she was so premature but the doctors said she was trying to take in some air.
"I knew at that moment that whatever happened Amillia was going to live.
"I think the doctors knew they had a fighter on their hands and they did everything possible to help her survive."
Mrs Taylor said nurses handed her the baby almost immediately because they were convinced that she was going to die. "They wanted me to see her when she was alive, but not for one minute did I ever think Amillia was going to die. "I could just tell that she wanted to live and if the doctors and nurses could help her then she would have a fighting chance."
Mrs Taylor said that in the first few weeks nurses tried to prepare her for the death of her daughter. "They were more worried than me," she said. "I looked at Amillia and just knew she was going to make it." Mr Taylor, a road engineer, added: "We knew before the birth that if she hadn't taken a breath or showed much sign of life the doctors were unlikely to do anything. But my little girl came out breathing and they knew they had a fighter on their hands. It's hard to describe now, but Amillia was always meant to be."
The tiny tot was rushed to the intensive care unit at Miami's Baptist Hospital where staff maintained a round-the-clock vigil. Mrs Taylor was unable to hold her baby for two weeks as she was suffering from a blood infection and couldn't risk spreading it to Amillia. But Mr Taylor couldn't wait to change her first nappy. "Amillia was so small the nappies made specially for premature babies were too big," he said. "When we put it on her it was almost the length of her body. She was just swamped by the thing and that's when I really realised just how small she was." Mrs Taylor smiles with delight as she recalls cuddling Amillia for the first time.
"She was so light that I was scared to hurt her," she said. "But when the nurses placed her on my chest, I could feel her warmth and feel her breathing. It really was a special moment.
"I loved it when she started to cry. It was so faint that it sounded like a cat crying, but it proved to me Amillia had the strength to live. Amillia spent a total of four months in hospital before doctors said she was well enough to go home. The cost of her medical treatment is likely to be more than $1 million - the tab picked up by Mr Taylor's health insurance company. Since arriving at the couple's bungalow-style home, Amillia has steadily been gaining weight and height.She still needs oxygen supplements and is linked to a heart monitor but happily takes milk eight times a day.
"She has also developed quite a pair of lungs on her now and I call her the queen of screams," Mrs Taylor said. "Incredibly, she's also started teething a little bit although there are no teeth."
Mrs Taylor is hopeful doctors will soon give Amillia the all-clear to stop using the supplemental oxygen as her lungs develop even further, but the couple's biggest fear is that she will get an infection or a cold, which could prove fatal. That has meant they have rarely been able to take her out in the Florida sunshine. "We know we have to take it slowly, as we have to be very careful Amillia doesn't catch a cold," Mrs Taylor said. "When we came home, so many people wanted to come and see her, but we couldn't let them in for fear Amillia might catch a cold."
The couple admit they are overwhelmed to know their baby is a record-breaker and have been flooded with messages of goodwill from around the world. "We're so glad that people were pleased with Amillia's survival," Mrs Taylor said. "But no matter how happy they are, it can never match how Eddie and I feel."
"We're blessed."
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Traditional Chinese medicine for Fertility Support
There is growing evidence surrounding the benefits of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in combating infertility. One of the most recent studies, published by the British Medical Journal in February 2008 looked at more than 1,300 couples receiving in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment and found that "acupuncture given as a complement to IVF increased the odds of achieving pregnancy."
While modern medical science tends to view the body as a machine, traditional Chinese medicine considers the human condition to be more like a garden. This paradigm may help explain why Chinese medicine is so adept at improving fertility. A TCM practitioner will use a patient's signs and symptoms to determine any underlying imbalances.
Does the patient have the required proportions of moisture (yin) or warmth (yang) to support reproductive health? Perhaps there is enough moisture, but it is not circulating as well as it should be, creating too much dampness and stagnation. Once any underlying imbalances have been determined, a TCM practitioner is likely to use a combination of therapies including acupuncture, herbal medicine, and diet therapy to help cultivate the conditions necessary to support conception and implantation of an embryo. Often, it is beneficial to treat both partners to ensure the best chance of success. Once pregnancy occurs, a good practitioner will continue to work with the expectant mother to ensure that the conditions are optimal for healthy development of the child. Just like in a garden, when all of the required factors are present and balanced, seeds take hold and new life flourishes.
If you are thinking of trying traditional Chinese medicine for fertility support, seek a practitioner who has certification and training in both acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine and who carries the designation of Licensed Acupuncturist (Lac).
-- Eric Martin, M.S., Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine resident Bastyr Center for Natural Health
Non-profit, accredited Bastyr University (bastyr.edu) offers multiple degrees in the natural health sciences, and clinical training at Bastyr Center for Natural Health (bastyrcenter.org), the region's largest natural medicine clinic.
While modern medical science tends to view the body as a machine, traditional Chinese medicine considers the human condition to be more like a garden. This paradigm may help explain why Chinese medicine is so adept at improving fertility. A TCM practitioner will use a patient's signs and symptoms to determine any underlying imbalances.
Does the patient have the required proportions of moisture (yin) or warmth (yang) to support reproductive health? Perhaps there is enough moisture, but it is not circulating as well as it should be, creating too much dampness and stagnation. Once any underlying imbalances have been determined, a TCM practitioner is likely to use a combination of therapies including acupuncture, herbal medicine, and diet therapy to help cultivate the conditions necessary to support conception and implantation of an embryo. Often, it is beneficial to treat both partners to ensure the best chance of success. Once pregnancy occurs, a good practitioner will continue to work with the expectant mother to ensure that the conditions are optimal for healthy development of the child. Just like in a garden, when all of the required factors are present and balanced, seeds take hold and new life flourishes.
If you are thinking of trying traditional Chinese medicine for fertility support, seek a practitioner who has certification and training in both acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine and who carries the designation of Licensed Acupuncturist (Lac).
-- Eric Martin, M.S., Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine resident Bastyr Center for Natural Health
Non-profit, accredited Bastyr University (bastyr.edu) offers multiple degrees in the natural health sciences, and clinical training at Bastyr Center for Natural Health (bastyrcenter.org), the region's largest natural medicine clinic.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Quadriplegic's 'lotto numbers come up' in India
A paralysed Australian man hopes a controversial embryonic stem cell treatment he is undergoing in India will help him walk again. Quadriplegic Perry Cross credits the treatment - which is banned in Australia and most Western countries - with allowing him to breathe on his own for the first time in 14 years.
Within weeks of starting his treatment in March, Cross was also able to sit unaided for short periods of time. The Queenslander was paralysed when he broke his neck during a rugby union match in 1994, when he was 19. He plans to continue having the stem cell injections, and hopes that one day they will help him walk again.
"I've been in a stable condition ever since I left hospital in 1994 and I came here in March to receive treatment and in April I started to breathe," he told Sky News in Britain. "So I put it down to the treatment. Nothing else has happened in the meantime that I know of. "I've received a bit of improvement in my arms already and my legs a little bit, so I'm hopeful when I come back, probably at the end of the year, I'll hopefully receive more improvement.
"You know, you put your lottery numbers in every week and I feel by coming here, my lottery numbers have finally come up."
Cross' doctor Geeta Shroff has been criticised by some medical professionals who claim she has not published papers about her research or revealed how she uses the stem cells. But Dr Shroff, who has treated about 500 patients in India, defended her research, saying she had taken out a patent to protect her work and published it on the internet. For Cross, she injected stem cells derived from a "throwaway" embryo developed during an IVF cycle for a woman who had given her "full consent" to Dr Shroff's research.
Dr Shroff said she was confident it was the stem cells that had begun repairing the damage to Cross's spinal cord and allowed him to finally breathe on his own and sit unaided. "Today he is breathing within eight weeks of starting treatment," she told Sky News. "No rehab can allow for a person to breathe on their own if their lungs are not working, if their spinal cord is not working.
"So if it has happened eight weeks after the stem cells (being injected), then obviously it is the human embryonic stem cells that is working."
Dr Shroff said she hoped her technology would be made available around the world to patients suffering from incurable diseases and terminal conditions. "I believe this would change medicine, it is the beginning of a new era in medicine," she said.
Since his accident in 1994, Cross has become one of the most sought-after motivational speakers in Australia. The Queenslander set up the Perry X Foundation three years ago to provide support for researchers trying to find a cure for paralysis. He has also advised the United Nations and worked with the late Superman star Christopher Reeve, who was paralysed after a horse riding accident, and became the actor's stem cell ambassador in Australia.
Within weeks of starting his treatment in March, Cross was also able to sit unaided for short periods of time. The Queenslander was paralysed when he broke his neck during a rugby union match in 1994, when he was 19. He plans to continue having the stem cell injections, and hopes that one day they will help him walk again.
"I've been in a stable condition ever since I left hospital in 1994 and I came here in March to receive treatment and in April I started to breathe," he told Sky News in Britain. "So I put it down to the treatment. Nothing else has happened in the meantime that I know of. "I've received a bit of improvement in my arms already and my legs a little bit, so I'm hopeful when I come back, probably at the end of the year, I'll hopefully receive more improvement.
"You know, you put your lottery numbers in every week and I feel by coming here, my lottery numbers have finally come up."
Cross' doctor Geeta Shroff has been criticised by some medical professionals who claim she has not published papers about her research or revealed how she uses the stem cells. But Dr Shroff, who has treated about 500 patients in India, defended her research, saying she had taken out a patent to protect her work and published it on the internet. For Cross, she injected stem cells derived from a "throwaway" embryo developed during an IVF cycle for a woman who had given her "full consent" to Dr Shroff's research.
Dr Shroff said she was confident it was the stem cells that had begun repairing the damage to Cross's spinal cord and allowed him to finally breathe on his own and sit unaided. "Today he is breathing within eight weeks of starting treatment," she told Sky News. "No rehab can allow for a person to breathe on their own if their lungs are not working, if their spinal cord is not working.
"So if it has happened eight weeks after the stem cells (being injected), then obviously it is the human embryonic stem cells that is working."
Dr Shroff said she hoped her technology would be made available around the world to patients suffering from incurable diseases and terminal conditions. "I believe this would change medicine, it is the beginning of a new era in medicine," she said.
Since his accident in 1994, Cross has become one of the most sought-after motivational speakers in Australia. The Queenslander set up the Perry X Foundation three years ago to provide support for researchers trying to find a cure for paralysis. He has also advised the United Nations and worked with the late Superman star Christopher Reeve, who was paralysed after a horse riding accident, and became the actor's stem cell ambassador in Australia.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
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