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The Strange Story of a Fertility Drug Made With the Pope’s Blessing and Gallons of Nun Urine

Piero Donini, a scientist working in the late 1940s for the Italian pharmaceutical company that would later be known as Serono, was the first to extract and purify FSH and LH, the hormones that stimulate ovulation. The hormones are found in women’s urine, which is why pregnancy tests can be conducted on urine samples. After experimenting with urine from pregnant women, Donini discovered the highest levels of the hormone actually were in post-menopausal women. After menopause, when ovaries stop producing eggs, FHS and LS shoot up as the body tries to stimulate their production.

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The One Thing Nobody Tells You About The Copper IUD

The copper intrauterine device, or IUD, is one of the most effective methods of contraception. Have a doctor shove a T-shaped copper wire into your uterus and watch as you suddenly prove completely invulnerable to pregnancy! But when it comes to how the copper IUD actually works, without any hormones in it preventing pregnancy, most of us might not have a clue. It turns out that the mechanism that makes copper IUDs so effective is still kind of mysterious; but we do know it has to do with copper ions and how they interact with sperm as it enters the body.

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Do Fertility Treatments Cause Cancer?

One of the reasons I was reluctant to start fertility treatment—aside from the astronomical costs—was I was afraid what it would mean to start putting all those chemicals in my body: the hormones to increase my egg production, to make me ovulate, to regulate my cycle. It seemed like a bit much. Especially since fertility is such a burgeoning field in early stages and no one quite knows what the effects will be.

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7 Surprising Things That Can Mess With Your Birth Control Pill

If taken properly, birth control pills are 99.9 percent effective (relieving, right?). But taking them effectively includes timing them right, storing them properly, and making sure your body is clear of other drugs or chemicals that could interact with your hormones and throw your body off whack. With so many things that can have a slight effect, from common medication to everyday foods, it can be hard to tell if we really our taking that pill effectively. If we aren’t, it can be equally difficult to pinpoint where we’re going wrong.

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The alternative infertility treatment that’s helping some women get pregnant

Any woman who is struggling with infertility will tell you that one of the worst parts of going through in vitro fertilization (IVF) are the daily hormone injections. And for some women, those injections could even be downright dangerous.Although IVF is still considered the gold standard, there’s an infertility treatment available that is offering hope — in vitro maturation (IVM). IVM has the potential to improve the chances for women to have babies without a long course of hormones.  

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FAQ: Are Compounded Bioidentical Hormones Safe for HRT?

An analysis of two large surveys published in February in Menopause, the journal of the North American Menopause Society, reported that 28% to 68% of women using hormones at menopause take compounded, so-called “bioidentical” hormones. The analysis further revealed that women do not understand that compounded hormone products, which are not clinically tested or approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), carry innate risks.

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What Makes Menopause Worse? Your Daughter’s In Puberty Too

The change in hormones affects the sleep schedule, changes the skin, increases aches and pains in the joints. It worsens the mood, alters the menstrual cycle, worsens headaches, lowers the libido, and changes the way women bounce back from stress. It even puts on extra weight around the middle section.