infertilityhomeoclinic.com

22/01/2014

It is true that you can be fertile naturally without any side effect, by the help of homeopathic medicines.

26/08/2013

Smoking is the subject which reduces your sparm count. Physical activity always increases sparm count. But if you have the smoking habit, your cholestrole will increase due to other hormonal abnormality, and the heart action will be slow and activity will be slow. Oppositely it helps to produce a less quality ovam for women or produce menstrual abnormality So try to leave that habit.

09/03/2013

ARTICLE
published in The Guardian.

IVF may raise risk of diabetes, hypertension and cancer in later life

Fertility specialist calls for monitoring of adults born through IVF for the early onset of certain diseases

IVF babies are more likely to have a low birthweight, resulting in a higher risk of obesity, diabetes and hypertension by 50. Photograph: ZEPHYR/SPL/Getty Images

People conceived through IVF 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 yesterday.

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."

Unlike naturally conceived babies, those who are created through IVF spend their first three days after conception in a Petri dish and are exposed to more oxygen than is available in the womb. The altered oxygen levels and the culture media used to keep embryos alive are thought to alter how genes are expressed in IVF embryos.

Sapienza's team analysed levels of gene expression in 75 children born through IVF and compared this with 100 naturally born babies. They found differences in 6-10% of the genes studied.

Some of the genes that differed are known to play a role in normal development and growth, while others are linked to metabolism and the formation of fat in the body.

The findings come as the inventor of one of the most common fertility treatments in use in Britain warned that the technique, in which s***m are injected directly into eggs, is being overused, exposing patients to needless risk and expense.

Dr Andre van Steirteghem at the Brussels University Centre for Reproductive Medicine co-invented intracytoplasmic s***m injection or ICSI in the 1990s, a procedure that accounted for 48% of all IVF treatment in the UK in 2007. The procedure tends to be used more in private clinics than in the NHS. The Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre in London, which has Britain's highest success rates, uses ICSI in 78% of treatment cycles.

ICSI costs up to £2,000 more than standard IVF and carries a slightly higher risk of producing babies with birth defects. It was developed specifically to treat male infertility, but many clinics now use it for all patients, because it is more likely to lead to viable embryos.

"Several clinics use ICSI for everybody. I don't think it's necessary when you have a method like conventional IVF which is certainly less invasive," said Dr van Steirteghem. "ICSI has been overused. The important thing is we have to see what will come out in the future, so long-term follow-up is important."

In the UK, the use of ICSI as a proportion of all fertility treatment rose from 15% in 1995 to 43% in 2005. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority recommends that ICSI be used only when problems have been identified with a man's s***m, or when previous IVF treatment has failed.

Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: "There is a real danger that ICSI is being overused in some parts of the world and I suspect this is out of fear of patients experiencing 'failed fertilisation' using conventional IVF. The problem with overusing ICSI is that there is a very small but statistically significant increased risk that some of the babies born from the technique appear to have health problems."-( According to The Guardian.)

09/03/2013

09/03/2013

IS YOUR S***M COUNT WORRYING YOU? (news from TOI.)
Is your s***m count worrying you?
Is your s***m count worrying you?
S***m count of a normal adult in India has plunged to one-third of what it was three decades ago. Stressful lifestyles, bad habits, hormones and even frequency of in*******se an affect male fertility say experts. Read on to find out more…A fall in the s***m count in the reproductive years is now a serious global problem and unfortunately the crisis is equally acute in India. According to specialists, the s***m count of a normal adult in India has plunged to around 20 million per ml, one-third of what it was three decades ago.Dr Duru Shah, consultant obstetrician, gynecologist and an infertility specialist says, “Male infertility may be to blame for up to 40 per cent of the cases where a couple is unable to conceive. Nearly one in five healthy men between 18 and 25 have an abnormal s***m count.”Dr Firuza R Parikh, head of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics says, “The detrimental effects on s***m production and quality go beyond ones current lifestyle. In fact it is transgenerational. That means what our parents did or did not do, will affect our fertility potential. For example, if a woman has smoked heavily throughout her pregnancy, there is a possibility that her son will be born with less testicular cells, will produce less s***m in his lifetime, may have a higher chance of getting testicular cancer and also have a higher chance of having undescended testes.”Here are a few factors that cause infertility in men.

Lifestyle
Dr Sandeep Mane, consultant in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery, says, “The main reason for this problem is the current lifestyle of late marriages, psychological issues, physical exhaustion, habits such as smoking, alcohol and drugs, infections. The focus of men’s lives these days has shifted to achieving professional excellence. They work long hours, sleep patterns are disturbed and dietary irregularities are high. Physical exhaustion and fatigue leads to decreased libido and inability to physical perform the act. Dr Rajesh Parikh (Neuropsychiatrist) who counsels infertile patients has shown time and again the effects of stress on s***m counts. Couples, who have been counseled by him to take a holiday while awaiting IVF treatment, have conceived on their own despite low s***m counts.

Bad habits
Smoking, drinking and doing drugs have adverse effects on fertility. They affect the hormonal balance that is necessary for the s***m production. Mainly, the s***m concentration and the motility is affected. Smoking is a risk factor, as it impairs s***m count and motility, reduces s***m lifespan and may also cause genetic changes that affect the offspring. Similarly, alcohol lowers the production of s***m and of the male hormone testosterone.

Hormones
Stress, anxiety and depression, and the medications taken to treat these conditions, adversely affect the s***m production process. S***m production is a neuro-hormonal process controlled by the brain.

Diseases
Diabetes can lead to decreased libido, erectile dysfunction and decreased s***m concentration and motility. Tuberculosis can also affect male fertility.

Frequency of in*******se
Erectile dysfunction and premature ej*******on are common problems. Frequency of in*******se also plays a role in male sub fertility. Daily in*******se leads to decreased s***m concentration and too infrequent (gaps of more than 10 days) leads to decreased motility.

Multiple partners
Infections affect the s***m production and sometimes the ej*******on process. Multiple sexual partners can lead to sexually transmitted diseases.

Environmental factors
Many studies offer substantial evidence that industrial pollutants may be interfering with the hormone that regulate growth, health and behavior in wildlife and humans, thus contributing to birth defects, problems of sexual development, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and even mental problems like attention deficit disorder, diminished IQ,and violent behaviour.

Nutrient deficiency
Deficiencies of Vitamin C, Selenium, Zinc and Folate may also be risk factors.

Other factors
Wearing tight underwear or trousers, bathing in very hot water, sitting for long hours, pesticide exposure and being overweight (fat layers sag on the testicles) lead to infertility. Laptops too affect fertility, because they are frequently positioned close to the sc***um. The user sits with his thighs close together, and this traps the sc***um between the thighs. A lot of bicycling too has been linked to impotence in men as pressure from the bike seat may damage blood vessels and nerves.

Fact of the matter
Men are considered infertile if their s***m counts drop as low as 20 million per ml, although it is still possible for a man with that s***m count to sire a child, if other factors
are all favorable. If s***m count drops much below that, however, reproduction becomes
increasingly difficult.

Azoos***mia
In this condition there is no s***m at all in the semen sample, despite a normal and healthy libido and seemingly normal semen.

A few treatments…
One of the treatments is the Intra Cytoplasmic S***m Injection, or ICSI,an infertility treatment utilizing micromanipulation technology that specifically addresses male factor infertility issues. When a single s***m is injected directly into the egg, it virtually eliminates the problems and limitations of poor s***m quality.ICSI not only addresses the issues of poor s***m motility and low count, but it is also successful with s***m that are considered less than ideal for an IVF process.

Another exciting breakthrough in the field of male factor infertility and micromanipulation is a process called Round S***matid Nucleus Injection or ROSNI that specifically targets men who are not manufacturing s***m and have zero s***m counts. The ROSNI process involves taking immature cells (round s***matids) directly from the testicle,removing the nucleus containing the genetic material and injecting the nucleus into the female partners eggs, which are removed during an in vitro fertilization cycle. Researchers believe that this technique will eventually become a successful technique that will allow men who previous had no hope, to father a biological child.

01/03/2013

ARTICLES

Background: Few epidemiologic studies have examined the association between fertility drugs and breast cancer risk, and results have been contradicting. Using data from the largest cohort of infertile women to date, the aim of this study was to examine the effects of fertility drugs on breast cancer...