Fertility

Photo

News • Focal therapy study

New prostate cancer treatment to reduce risk of impotence

Focal treatment of prostate cancer involves treating only the tumor and not the entire gland, sparing surrounding tissue and nerves. The method is being evaluated in a research study.

Photo

News • Relapse rate research

Breast cancer: Fertility preservation measures do not increase recurrence risk

A new study shows that women with a breast cancer diagnosis undergoing procedures for fertility preservation are not at increased risk of recurrence of the disease or disease-specific mortality.

Photo

News • Impact of language in PCOS patients

“Words matter” when diagnosing women with polycystic ovary syndrome

The language used by doctors when diagnosing female patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) can negatively impact their wellbeing and how they view their condition, new research finds.

Photo

Article • Multiparametric ultrasound

Experts assess usefulness of MPUS in the diagnostic conundrum

Multiparametric ultrasound (MPUS) has proven its value in the abdomen – now, the technique is increasingly moving towards peripheral areas such as breast and testis imaging, experts showed in a…

Photo

News • Cancer therapy side-effects

Researchers investigate link between chemotherapy and infertility

In order to better prevent and restore fertility and reduce the risk of sterility in cancer survivors, researchers investigate the mechanisms behind negative effects of chemotherapy.

Photo

News • Women's health

Breast and ovarian cancer risk assessment from cervical samples

Scientists have discovered a means of identifying the risk of breast and ovarian cancer by measuring epigenetic changes in cervical samples from over a thousand women.

Photo

News • Inconceivable?

Many fertility apps not exactly fussy about data privacy, study shows

The majority of top-rated fertility apps collect and even share intimate information without the users’ knowledge or permission, a collaborative study by Newcastle and Umea Universities has found. Researchers are now calling for a tightening of the categorisation of these apps by platforms to protect women from intimate and deeply personal information being exploited and sold.

Photo

News • Reproductive medicine study

Seeing double: Why there are more twins than ever

More human twins are being born than ever before, according to the first comprehensive, global overview published in Human Reproduction, one of the world’s leading reproductive medicine journals. Since the 1980s the twinning rate has increased by a third from 9 to 12 per 1000 deliveries, meaning that about 1.6 million twins are born each year worldwide and one in every 42 children born is a…

Photo

Article • Improving diagnosis

Multiparametric ultrasound finds causes for male infertility

Infertility has long been attributed to women alone, but medical advances have shown it really is a couple’s problem, with 20% of couples presently having trouble conceiving. Medical imaging, in particular ultrasound, can help identify underlying causes of men’s infertility and other related health issues, an Italian radiologist explained during the last European Congress of Radiology.

Photo

News • Multimillion research grant

One step closer to the artificial womb

The realization of an artificial womb has come one step closer, thanks to a new €2.9 million grant from the EU program Horizon 2020 for researchers in Eindhoven. The goal of the artificial womb is to increase the chances of survival for extremely premature babies outside the body. Just one year ago, the artificial womb was presented as a first design during the Dutch Design Week. This grant…

Photo

News • End stage kidney disease

Pre-eclampsia increases ESKD risk

Women with pre-eclampsia during pregnancy have a five-fold increased risk of end stage kidney disease (ESKD) later in life compared to women who don’t develop pre-eclampsia during pregnancy, according to a new study. Professor Louise Kenny from the University of Liverpool is one of the co-authors of the study, which is published in PLOS Medicine and also involved researchers at University…

Photo

News • ctDNA vs. HGSOC

Taking 'molecular snapshots' of ovarian cancer

High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is the most common and aggressive subtype of ovarian cancer. The HGSOC tumors consist of several heterogeneous cell populations with a large number of mutations. This genetic variability makes it difficult to find drugs that would kill all the cancer cells, and to which the cells would not become resistant during treatment. Over half of the patients…

Photo

News • Women's health

Endometriosis: Antibiotic could be key to treatment

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found, in mice, that treatment with an antibiotic reduces the size of lesions caused by endometriosis. The researchers are planning a large, multicenter clinical trial to test the drug metronidazole in women who have the painful condition. The study is published online April 30 in the journal Human Reproduction.…

Photo

News • Histones & protamines

Infertility's roots may lie in our DNA

Pathological infertility is a condition affecting roughly 7% of human males, and among those afflicted, 10-15% are thought to have a genetic cause. However, pinpointing the precise genes responsible for the condition has been difficult, due to the extensive number involved in generating and developing sperm cells. In a new paper appearing in Science Signaling, a Japanese team reports unravelling…

Photo

News • Hormone administration

Contraceptive jewelry could be the future of family planning

Family planning for women might one day be as simple as putting on an earring. A report published recently in the Journal of Controlled Release describes a technique for administering contraceptive hormones through special backings on jewelry such as earrings, wristwatches, rings or necklaces. The contraceptive hormones are contained in patches applied to portions of the jewelry in contact with…

Photo

News • Oral contraceptives

Can birth control pills keep you from recognising emotions?

The pill could be blurring your social judgement ‒ but perhaps not enough so you'd notice. By challenging women to identify complex emotional expressions like pride or contempt, rather than basic ones like happiness or fear, scientists have revealed subtle changes in emotion recognition associated with oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use. Published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, their study found…

Photo

News • The blunt truth

A few joints may not harm men’s sperm

Researchers investigating the effect of cannabis smoking on men’s testicular function have made the unexpected discovery that it is linked to higher sperm counts and higher testosterone levels among moderate users compared to men who never smoked it. The study is published in Human Reproduction, one of the world’s leading reproductive medicine journals. Previous studies had suggested that…

Photo

News • Contraception

Male birth control: as easy as a layered cocktail?

For decades, women have shouldered most of the burden of contraception. However, long-term use of female birth control pills could increase the risk for side effects such as blood clots or breast cancer. Now, inspired by colorful layered cocktails, researchers have developed a medium-term, reversible male contraceptive. They report their results in the journal ACS Nano. Common forms of male…

Photo

News • Fertilisation

IVF: Why a single embryo sometimes leads to twins or triplets

It has been known for some time that it is better to transfer a single embryo to a woman’s womb during assisted reproduction treatment (ART) to avoid a multiple pregnancy. However, even when single embryo transfer (SET) is performed, some women still become pregnant with twins or even triplets. Researchers have investigated one of the reasons why this happens.

Photo

News • Boxers or briefs?

Why getting rid of tighty-whities is good for your fertility

Researchers have discovered a good reason to not wear tight-fitting underwear – beyond the obvious aspect of fashion: According to new research led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, men who frequently wear boxers have significantly higher sperm concentrations and total sperm counts when compared with their briefs-wearing counterparts. The findings of this study, conducted in the…

Photo

News • Harmful chemicals

Phthalates: increased exposure through dining out

Dining out more at restaurants, cafeterias and fast-food outlets may boost total levels of potentially health-harming chemicals called phthalates in the body, according to a new study. Phthalates, a group of chemicals used in food packaging and processing materials, are known to disrupt hormones in humans and are linked to a long list of health problems. The study is the first to compare…

Photo

News • Research

Solving the mystery of defective embryos

It’s the dream of many infertile couples: to have a baby. Tens of thousands of children are born by in vitro fertilization, or IVF, a technique commonly used when nature doesn’t take its course. However, embryos obtained when a sperm fertilizes an egg in a test tube often have defects. In a study, researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) discovered an…

7 show more articles
Subscribe to Newsletter