Fertility

News • Ovarian, testicular cancer

Germ cell tumours: Lower survival in women

Women with a type of ovarian cancer known as germ cell tumours have a worse prognosis than men with similar tumours. The five-year survival rate was 98% for men, but 85% for women, a new study finds.

News • Fertility research

Researchers produce testicle organoids in the lab

A research team created "laboratory testicles" that may significantly advance understanding of the mechanisms involved in sex determination and provide solutions for male infertility.

News • Mobile health technologies

Contraception counseling: Doctors shy away from digital methods

Pregnancy prevention apps, fertility-tracking wearables and more: Digital tools have expanded the range of contraceptive methods – but are rarely discussed at the GP's office, a new study shows.

News • From conception to childbirth

Study shows what women want (in pregnancy health apps)

A team comprising obstetricians, gynecologists, pediatricians, and biomedical engineers has found the key determinants for digital health solutions that support women from pre- to post-pregnancy.

News • Contraception, wound healing, arthritis treatment

Three promising medical applications of nanoparticles

Contraception, wound healing, arthritis treatment: Here are three recent papers published in ACS journals that could expand the beneficial uses for nanoparticles, based on results in rats.

News • Q&A on research, diagnosis, treatment

Endometriosis: More than just ‘painful periods’

Endometriosis, which can cause debilitating pain each menstrual cycle, as well as infertility, is often misdiagnosed and misunderstood. An expert from Yale Medicine sheds light on the condition.

News • Proof-of-concept research

Researchers reverse chemotherapy-related fertility loss

A new study by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital demonstrates the potential for restoring fertility when the ovaries have stopped working.

News • Study on period shifts, regularity, pain

Can the Covid vaccine affect menstruation?

Do coronavirus vaccines skew the menstrual cycle, cause more bleeding or pain? Anecdotal reports hint at a connection. Now, a new study led by Boston University provides answers.

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.

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.

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.

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 dedicated session at ECR 2022.

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.

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.

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.

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…

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.

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…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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