varoblog

(sz) [...] According to the National Registry of Assisted Reproduction in India (Nari), which maintains records of all in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedures in India, the number of women seeking test-tube babies has doubled since 2005.
“Nari recorded about 10,000 IVF procedures in 2005. In 2006, the figure doubled,” says Dr Nandita Palshetkar, consultant gynaecologist at the Lilavati Hospital IVF Centre.
Nearly 60% of patients above 40 have difficulty in conceiving naturally, say experts.
“But more and more people are delaying pregnancy for various reasons. And due to awareness of procedures like IVF, women in their late 30s wanting a baby are more open to approaching doctors,” she says.
The Lilavati Hospital IVF Centre does 500-600 IVF procedures annually, of which more than 50% are for women over 35. Patients of gynaecologist Prasad Mahadevan are mostly women in the “middle class, upper middle class, and high society”. “There are several career women trying to beat the (biological) clock,” he says. more…

From: »DNA« (India)

(wz) Couples adopting a donated frozen embryo have just as good, if not a better chance, of becoming pregnant as those undergoing in vitro fertilization with their own embryos, according to a study recently published on-line in the journal Fertility and Sterility. According to researching co-author Dr. Reginald Finger, of 702 women who received donated embryos, 314 (44.7%) became pregnant and 249 (35.5%) delivered at least one live baby. The latter number compares to 25 to 44 percent nationally (depending on age) for women using their own fresh embryos and 22 to 32 percent if they use their own frozen embryos.
Seven programs – including four IVF clinics and three programs who match donor embryos to recipients – participated in the research. “We believe donor embryos have this degree of success because, by and large, they come from couples who have been successful in their own fertility treatments”, noted lead author Dr. Jeffrey Keenan of the National Embryo Donation Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. “In addition, the seven participating programs include some of the highest quality programs in the country. We highly recommend that couples who have embryos remaining from IVF treatments consider donating them to another couple, so that they can contribute to a happy outcome for someone else as well.” more…

From: »Standard Newswire«

(sz) Radical shifts in parenting trends have fertility experts at Reproductive Endocrinology Associates of Charlotte (REACH) eyeing far more aggressive means to recruit young women for egg donations in 2008 — including new outreach through the Internet — in efforts to stem an alarmingly widening gap between supply and demand.
Average wait time for donated eggs for older women wishing to get pregnant through in vitro fertilization (IVF) has nearly doubled in the last two years, REACH doctors said. The increase is due to a national trend toward older mothering — spotlighted by TV host Nancy Grace’s recent announcement that she had given birth to twins at age 48.
“More women believe that if they maintain healthy lifestyles they are capable of achieving pregnancy well into middle age. But the truth is that after age 35, a woman’s eggs become less viable,” said Dr. Nancy Teaff of REACH.
Celebrities exacerbate the myth by being public about their late life motherhood but private about how they did it, Teaff said. Holly Hunter had twins at 47, Geena Davis at 48, and Jane Seymour at 44. “Most women that age use IVF with donor eggs to become moms,” Teaff said. About 12 percent of IVF attempts in 2005 involved the use of donated eggs in the United States, according to the CDC. more…

From: »FoxBusiness«

(cz) People have been trying to play a role in determining the sex of their children for thousands of years. But whether your nursery is pink or blue has always been left up to chance until now.
HealthFirst reporter Leslie LoBue tells us not only is it possible to use science to choose the sex of your child, it’s virtually guaranteed, and in the U.S. , it’s legal. Fertility specialist Jeffrey Steinberg has been doing in-vitro fertilization since it started 30 years ago. Fast forward to 2008, and he now offers patients another breakthrough: choosing the sex of their children. “If they want a boy, we give them only boys and if they want a girl, we give them only girls. And in thousands of cases, we’ve never gone wrong,” Steinberg said. Gender selection for non-medical reasons is illegal in many countries; China, India, Germany, the U.K. and even Canada. The most sure-fire way to have a boy or girl is with pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD. more…

From: »abc12.com«

(cz) The first experiments using human embryonic stem cells in human subjects could begin within a few months, the chief executive of biotech Geron said Monday.
At the annual BIO CEO conference in New York, Dr. Thomas Okarma said Geron plans to start embryonic stem-cell studies in humans with spinal cord injuries toward the end of the second quarter. Okarma said the tests would involve up to 40 human patients, while all prior tests involved rats.
This assumes that the Food and Drug Administration gives Geron a green light to proceed with the human test. Okarma said the FDA will set a “high bar” in regulating this new type of science.
Ren Benjamin, analyst for Rodman & Renshaw, believes the regulatory process could be time-consuming, because it’s unprecedented.
“This is the first time that a human embryonic stem cell application is being submitted to the FDA, so there’s a good chance that some questions will arise,” he said.
Geron (GERN), based in Menlo Park, Calif., is also in early-stage studies with stem cell-based drugs for diabetes and heart failure. All of these experimental treatments are years away from potentially entering the market. more…

From: »CNN Money«

(sz) Women who undergo IVF increase their chances of pregnancy if they are also treated with acupuncture, a new analysis suggests.
The benefits may be large — a 65 per cent increase in the chance of becoming pregnant, and a 91 per cent increase in the number of live births.
The results have emerged from a meta-analysis, a technique in which the results of many previous trials are pooled. A team led by Dr Eric Manheimer of the University of Maryland School of Medicine scanned medical literature for trials that attempted to measure the effect of acupuncture on IVF success.
They found 108 trials, but rejected all but seven because of defects of methodology — such as that acupuncture was not administered within a day of IVF or was used as a form of pain relief.
The seven they retained, all published since 2002 and carried out in four Western countries, involved 1,366 women. In all the trials the women were given acupuncture immediately before or after the test-tube embryo was transferred to their wombs. All the acupuncture sessions lasted 25 to 30 minutes.
In British Medical Journal online, the team reports that almost all these trials reported positive findings. Taken together they showed a 65 per cent increase in establishment of pregnancy, an 87 per cent increase in continuing pregnancy, and a 91 per cent increase in live births. more…

From: »The Times«

(sz) AIIMS to offer assisted reproductive technique plan soon.
New facility will bring in-vitro fertilisation technique within the reach of the common man.
Around six to eight per cent couples are not able to have a child on their own.
Bringing the in-vitro fertilisation facility within the reach of the common man, the All-India Institute of Medical Science here will soon be offering the programme for assisted reproductive technique at the hospital.
In India, about 6 to 8 per cent couples are not able to have a child on their own and need some assistance to be able to conceive. The important causes of infertility in male are decreased sperm count and motility and abnormal sperms, while among females the major causes are blocked tubes, inability to ovulate or any abnormalities of the genital tract. Tuberculosis and genital tract infections are important contributors of tubal factor infertility. “The new facility is available in the private sector but is not within the reach of the common man due to its high cost. We will soon be offering the facility at AIIMS which is aimed at helping patients who cannot afford the service otherwise,” said the Institute’s chief spokesperson Y.K. Gupta.
The facility would be manned by a team of highly trained doctors and staff under the leadership of the Head of Department, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Suneeta Mittal. It will be an advanced IVF centre with the latest equipment and infrastructure and will be part of the national services being provided by AIIMS. more…

From: »The Hindu«

(wz) Stolze Erfolgsquote: 50 % der Babywünsche gehen in Erfüllung: Das Institut für Reproduktionsmedizin und Endokrinologie in Salzburg bietet Paaren mit Kinderwunsch maximale Unterstützung durch modernste Verfahren.
[...] Aber auch bei der Beurteilung der Eizelle ergeben sich ständig neue Aspekte. Der Reifegrad der Eizelle stellt ein wichtiges Detail für die Befruchtungsfähigkeit dar. Mittels computerassistierter Polarisationsmikroskopie ist es möglich, die Eizell-Membran und die Spindel, als Sitz der genetischen Information, darzustellen. Diese ist neben dem Nachweis des Polkörperchens ein wichtiger Indikator für den Reifezustand der Eizelle. Das Auswählen von Eizellen mit einwandfreier Spindel (auch hier nehmen Störungen im Alter zu) ist für den Behandlungserfolg ebenfalls entscheidend.
„Nur mit großer Erfahrung, extremer Genauigkeit und Wissen der Labormitarbeiter ist es möglich, höchste Befruchtungsraten zu erreichen“, betont Institutsleiter Spitzer. „In Österreich haben wir außerdem die Möglichkeit, alle Embryos bis zum 5. Tag der Entwicklung in Kultur zu belassen und zu beobachten. Ein Vorteil anderen europäischen Ländern gegenüber, z.B. Deutschland, wo maximal 3 Embryos weiterkultiviert werden dürfen. Mit der Methode des Blastozytentransfers lässt sich daher die Chance auf eine Schwangerschaft mehr als verdoppeln. In unserem Institut wurden in den vergangenen Jahren 85-90% der Transfers am 5. Tag durchgeführt, ein weiteres Zeichen für die hohe Qualität der Arbeit in unserem Labor.“

Unterstützung durch den IVF-Fonds
Paare aus Österreich, die sich an das Institut für Reproduktionsmedizin und Endokrinologie in Salzburg wenden, erhalten 70 Prozent der Behandlungskosten vom IVF-Fonds, soferne bestimmte Voraussetzungen im Hinblick auf den Grund der Unfruchtbarkeit und das Alter der Partner gegeben sind.
„Nach einem Jahr Erfahrung mit dem IVF-Fonds liegen unsere Erfolgsraten doppelt so hoch wie die minimal geforderten 20% Schwangerschaftsrate und noch deutlich über dem österreichweiten Durchschnitt“, so Doz. Dr. Spitzer stolz. „Außerdem konnten wir die Mehrlingsraten weiter reduzieren und höhergradige Mehrlinge (mehr als Zwillinge) wurden im vergangenen Jahr ganz vermieden.„ Dies gelingt durch den vermehrten Einsatz des so genannten „Single Embryo Transfer“, d.h., dass bei günstigen Voraussetzungen nur mehr ein Embryo transferiert wird und weitere Embryonen für nachfolgende Versuche eingefroren werden. more…

From: »Salzburger Fenster«

(cz) The largest IVF centre in Europe is to be built in Liverpool, after plans for a new specialist unit were given the green light.
Once open, the new Hewitt Centre for Reproductive Medicine will treat more than 2,000 couples each year.
Yesterday , Liverpool City Council planning chiefs passed proposals for the £5m, 1400sq ft extension to the existing centre at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
The work on the hospital’s Crown Street site will transform it into the biggest single provider of IVF treatment in Europe, housing an modern embryology laboratory, sperm bank and egg freezing facility and dedicated recovery services.
An extra 600 treatment cycles will be undertaken a year.
The investment, funded by the Liverpool Women’s Hospital and private practitioners, North West Fertility Ltd, will cement the hospital’s reputation as leaders in reproductive medicine.
Clinical director of the unit, Charles Kingsland, says Liverpool Women’s Hospital will now be recognised as the premier location for IVF technology and treatment. more…

From: »The Liverpool Daily Post«

(sz) Scientists believe they have made a potential breakthrough in the treatment of serious disease by creating a human embryo with three separate parents.
The Newcastle University team believe the technique could help to eradicate a whole class of hereditary diseases, including some forms of epilepsy.
The embryos have been created using DNA from a man and two women in lab tests.
It could ensure women with genetic defects do not pass the diseases on to their children.
The technique is intended to help women with diseases of the mitochondria - mini organelles that are found within individual cells.
They are sometimes described as “cellular power plants” because they generate most of the cell’s energy.
Faults in the mitochondrial DNA can cause around 50 known diseases, some of which lead to disability and death.
About one in every 6,500 people is affected by such conditions, which include fatal liver failure, stroke-like episodes, blindness, muscular dystrophy, diabetes and deafness.
At present, no treatment for mitochondrial diseases exists.
[...]
The Newcastle team have effectively given the embryos a mitochondria transplant. more…

From: »The BBC News«