varoblog

(cz) Payment has its place in social policy when trying to incentivise people to behave more sensibly, but is it really necessary and wise in this area?
I like it when I read in the newspapers that someone with the power of choice has taken a career decision which did not involve putting money first. It happened again this morning. John Terry is staying with Chelsea FC despite the blandishments of Manchester City’s chequebook.
More’s the pity, then, that away from the sports pages the chequebook seems to be working its way into another field of public policy: sperm and egg donation for IVF treatment.
Let’s not be too naive here, though it’s a relatively wholesome human failing. The Chelsea and England captain isn’t going to starve as a result of rejecting Mark Hughes’s reported £250,000 a week offer.
Roman Abramovich can still afford a small pay rise, from £135,000 to £150,000. And Terry’s “totally committed to Chelsea” statement did come after weeks of speculation that may have strengthened his hand with the management. No harm in that; he always strikes ignorant me as one of the good guys.
Mind you, all these figures are pretty obscene when you think about it, though top flight investment bankers wouldn’t turn out every Saturday of the season to get their knees muddy for that sort of small change. And hey, their overpaid underperformance is even worse than the Premier League’s.
Now back to those overpriced eggs and sperm. In case you missed it, the Times reports today remarks by Lisa Jardine, who splits her time between being a serious, book-producing academic at Queen Mary, University of London (they turned me down in 1962, but I’ve got over it) and chairing the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. more…

From: »The Guardian« (comment)

(sz) In the first, long-running study that systematically assessed the use of ART in infertile women with cystic fibrosis (CF), researchers have concluded that such techniques are safe and effective in helping patients conceive without any morbidity and mortality, either in the mother or offspring. The results of the study were presented at the 25th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology held at Amsterdam, from June 28 to July 1, 2009.
Sylvie Epelboin and colleagues from the Hôpital Cochin Saint Vincent de Paul, Paris evaluated 24 infertile patients with CF from 1998 to 2008. Fertility treatment was given to 15 subjects (median age=29.6 years) who presented with various negative post-coital tests, with other fertility factors being normal. The male partners of the participants had no CF gene mutation and the couples underwent genetic counseling. The couples were subjected to 38 attempts of intrauterine insemination (IUI), which resulted in 15 successful pregnancies and 2 failures. Of the 2 failures, IVF led to conception in one woman, while the other patient who had ovarian failure, reported positive result after oocyte donation.
Overall, 12 live births, 2 ongoing pregnancies, and 3 miscarriages were reported. At an average of about 37 gestational weeks, all patients had a normal vaginal delivery, except for one who underwent cesarean section. It was noted that 50% of the women had gestational diabetes, with a slight reduction in pulmonary function during the year of their pregnancy. The birth weights of the babies varied from 1,910 g to 3,500 g, with 18.2% below 2,500 g (low birth weight). The researchers reported that the mothers and 12 children born till date, aged between 1 month and 10 years, are all healthy.
Cystic fibrosis, an inherited life-threatening disease, affects around 30,000 people in the United States, with an additional 10 million being carriers of the defective CF gene. more…

From: »IVF News.Direct!«

(sz) A genetic mutation that lies behind one type of male infertility has been discovered by researchers at Oxford University, Ghent University in Belgium, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in the USA.
The discovery, published in the journal Human Reproduction, may provide a new approach to help some couples that have been unsuccessful in IVF treatments, and could potentially lead to the development of a male contraceptive pill.
The mutation was found in a man known to have a defect in his sperm following initially unsuccessful IVF treatment at a clinic at Ghent University Hospital.
The mutation lies in one specific protein present in sperm called PLC zeta. Recent research, in which the Oxford team played a significant role, has shown that sperm transfers PLC zeta to the egg on fertilisation. The protein initiates a process called ‘egg activation’ which sets off all the biological processes necessary for development of the embryo.
‘An egg cell before fertilisation is in a state of suspended animation. All the biological processes that occur in the growth and development of an embryo are on pause,’ explains Dr John Parrington of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford. ‘At the moment of fertilisation, when a sperm fuses with the egg, the egg bursts into life. It’s like a Prince waking Sleeping Beauty.’ more…

From: »Science Daily«

(wz) For any guy who has endured more than thirty minutes on a road bicycle seat, there is usually some concern over the strange numbness that occurs in places that should not go numb. Well, a new study has some good and bad news.
Spanish researchers have found that active male cyclists have lower quality sperm to the point of infertility risk. Among other things, they blame the painful “function over form” design of the wedge bicycle seat.
The good news is that unless you’re training to be in the next Tour de France with Lance Armstrong, your time on the saddle shouldn’t do any long-term damage.
A team led by professor Diana Vaamonde, from the University of Cordoba Medical School, tracked the workout regimen of 15 Spanish triathletes, with an average age of 33 who had been training for at least eight years, while also monitoring their sperm morphology.
For those in the test group that covered more than 180 miles per week on their bikes, the percentage of normal looking sperm dropped from a group average of 10 percent to 4 percent, a rate where infertility problems begin. Increased swimming or running did not affect sperm quality.
“We found a statistically adverse correlation between sperm morphology and the volume of cycling training undertaken per week,” Vaamonde said. “We believe that all the factors inherent in this sports activity, especially with regards to the cycling part, may affect sperm quality,” she added. “Moreover, we think that normal physiological homeostasis – the body’s ability to regulate its own environment – may become irreversibly altered, therefore resulting in complex anomalies.”
Vaamonde cited three possible reasons for the results: the increased heat during exercise, the friction and pressure against the seat causing microtrauma on the testes, and the overall rigor of intense exercise. more…

From: »Live Science«

(cz) Sitting on her porch, 26-year-old Brandy Hummel gently rubbed her belly to sooth the babies inside. But the growing twins kicking up a storm are not hers.
They were implanted in her uterus as fertilised embryos about six months ago, after she agreed to be the surrogate mother, or gestational carrier, for a couple who lives about 400 kilometres away in New York City.
The contract, as well as an intensive screening process, was negotiated by lawyer Melissa Brisman, based in New Jersey.
Paying a woman to effectively “rent” her reproductive organs is prohibited in several US states, including New York. But laws in other places such as Pennsylvania, where first-time carrier Hummel lives, are more surrogate-friendly.
Brisman’s office facilitates more than 150 such births each year, and she estimates that there could be as many as 6000 in the US annually.
Official numbers give significantly lower estimates, perhaps because many surrogate births go unreported. But in Brisman’s nearly 13 years of drawing up such arrangements, she has seen a dramatic rise in demand.
Much of the increase has been among same-sex couples, as well as people from countries where surrogacy is illegal.
The practice has also gained interest thanks to celebrities like Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker, who recently had twin girls with her husband Matthew Broderick through a surrogate.
For many women, surrogacy is the only path towards having children when they cannot get pregnant on their own.
After beating cancer, Dina Feivelson, the biological mother of the twins, was ready with her husband Neil to start a family.
But doctors told her it would be too dangerous for her to get pregnant, so she decided to hire someone else to help achieve their dream.
“We did have these 24 frozen embryos,” she explained, sitting on a couch surrounded by the many sonogram photos that Hummel sends her every couple of weeks. “We needed to find a way to make them from embryos into babies.” more…

From: »The Age«

(cz) A portable ‘lab on a chip’ that can identify target molecules in blood samples has been created by European researchers. It is being used to measure fertility hormones and detect the genes associated with certain types of cancer.
Much of modern medicine relies on the testing of blood and other samples for key molecules that confirm the presence of a specific disease or other disorder. Samples need to be sent to a laboratory and it may be several days before the result comes back.
Wouldn’t it be better if the result were available within a few minutes of the sample being taken, while the patient is still there with the doctor?
That is the thinking behind the EU-funded NEMOSLAB project which is developing an integrated ‘lab on a chip’ that can simultaneously test a sample for several different molecules at the point of care.
“The question was whether we could combine silicon or other semiconductor technologies with the bioassay techniques and the diagnostic technologies,” explains project coordinator Dr Konstantinos Misiakos of the National Centre of Scientific Research in Athens. “Some of the technologies were innovative or state of the art at the time the project started, some others were more or less conventional.” more…

From: »Medical News Today«

(wz) Embryo cryopreservation is known to offer several advantages during ART cycles, including enhancing cumulative pregnancy rates, preventing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, reducing multiple pregnancy rates, and lowering treatment costs. After the vitrification technology for cryopreservation was developed, several studies have compared the slow freezing technique and vitrification method in relation to post-thaw survival, implantation, and live-birth rates. Now, a new retrospective study published in the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics highlights the efficacy of cleavage-stage embryo vitrification in improving the survival rate, post-thaw embryo morphology, and pregnancy outcomes, compared to the slow-freezing technique.
Mojtaba Rezazadeh Valojerdi and colleagues, from the Embryology Department, Royan Institute, Iran, compared the effect of vitrification against slow-freezing of cleavage-stage embryos with regard to post-thaw survival rate, embryo morphology, and clinical outcomes. Cleavage-stage embryos of 305 patients were either subjected to vitrification (n=153) or slow-freezing (n=152) procedures. The following results observed during the study demonstrated that vitrification is a better cryopreservation technique compared to the slow-freezing method.
Previously, Loutradi et al (Fertility and Sterility, 2008) conducted a systemic review and meta-analysis to compare post-thaw survival rates following vitrification and slow-freezing of human embryos. The investigators analyzed four studies, including three randomized controlled trials, comprising of 7,482 vitrified and 1,342 slow-frozen human blastocysts/cleavage stage embryos. A substantially higher cleavage stage embryo survival rate was observed in the vitrification group as compared to the slow-freezing group (OR=15.57; random effects model). Post-thaw survival rate of blastocysts was also found to be considerably greater in the vitrification group than the slow-freezing group (OR=2.20; fixed effects model). more…

From: »IVF Nes.Direct!«

(sz) A Falmouth company that supplies the IVF market with leading-edge technology is expanding internationally in spite of the recession after help from UK trade and investment services.
Research Instruments Ltd has added five new markets in the Middle and Far East and has appointed distributors in Israel, Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, and has already secured orders in excess of £100,000, with exports accounting for 85 per cent of sales.
In the last year the Bickland Industrial Estate company’s £5m turnover grew by 16 per cent and bosses predict that it will expand its business by the same amount this year – despite the economic downturn.
Director Justin Retallack bought out the company along with two other employees in 2000 after working there for a number of years before.
He said Research Instruments Ltd aimed to expand in supplying technology to IVF markets internationally using UK trade and investment’s overseas market introduction service.
“We used the OMIS service to target Israel initially and haven’t looked back since.
“Since then we have used the service to research Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam and in every market we have had success. He added the service is invaluable for a small company like theirs. more…

From: »The Falmouth Packet«

(cz) A lesbian couple have won the right to IVF on the NHS after a legal tussle, ahead of laws that will put same-sex patients on an equal footing with heterosexuals.
The couple, who remain anonymous, had to go through a legal fight to push the NHS to fund IVF because, at the moment, individual trusts decide whether they wish to pay for treatment for lesbians.
The couple were initially refused IVF by their primary care trust because they were of the same sex. One of the women had polycystic ovarian syndrome, which disrupts ovulation, and is one of the most common causes of infertility.
From October, clinics will no longer be able to block lesbians by referring to a child’s “need for a father”. Instead, same-sex couples will need to demonstrate only that they can offer “supportive parenting”.
If NHS trusts continue to deny lesbians fertility treatment after this date they face possible legal action.
Ruth Hunt, head of policy at Stonewall, the lesbian, gay and bisexual charity, said: “The changes in the law should mean that no infertile lesbian is refused NHS fertility treatment on the grounds of her sexual orientation.
“We have just published a guide on how to get pregnant for lesbians in response to lots of queries. This is a hot topic for us at the moment.”
While same-sex couples have won new rights, many heterosexual couples continue to be denied IVF on the NHS. Only 27% of trusts offer heterosexual couples three cycles of treatment as recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, the NHS guidance body.
If lesbians are fertile they can usually conceive by intrauterine insemination (IUI), the medical name for donor insemination. This is less complicated than IVF, which involves fertilising eggs in a test tube. IUI is also cheaper,at about £700 per attempt compared with £3,000 per cycle of IVF. more…

From: »The Times«

(wz) A Spanish woman who became the world’s oldest mother at the age of 66 has died of cancer just two-and-a-half years after giving birth to twins, raising fresh questions about the ethics of fertility treatment for women past natural childbearing age.
Maria del Carmen Bousada, a single mother and retired sales assistant from Cádiz, southern Spain, leaves behind her orphan sons, Pau and Christian. It was unclear who would look after them.
Bousada, who had reportedly been diagnosed with a tumour just a few months after the birth in December 2006, had been living with her sons in a one-bedroom apartment and was being helped by her brother and sister-in-law, who are both in their 70s. They lived off the €600 (£515) she received for her pension and from child benefit payments. Her brother, Ricardo Bousada, reportedly said he had sold the rights to her story to a television company and that the proceeds would go towards raising the children.
Bousada became pregnant after repeated visits to a fertility clinic in Los Angeles, where she lied about her age. She told the Pacific Fertility Clinic that she was 55, the cut-off age. Bousada sold her apartment to pay for the treatment, which she did not start until her own mother, for whom she cared, had died.
An 18-year-old girl provided the egg and an Italian-American sperm donor provided the sperm so that, after hormone treatment to reverse menopause, an embryo could be implanted in her uterus. more…

From: »The Guardian«