Premature ovarian failure, also known as primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), affects 1% of all women worldwide. In most cases, the exact cause of the condition, which is often associated with infertility, is difficult to determine. A new Tel Aviv University study throws a spotlight on a previously-unidentified cause of POI: a unique mutation in a gene called SYCE1 that has not been previously associated with POI in humans.
Month: December 2014
Men Still Drive STD Increases
The CDC’s annual snapshot of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) has both good news and bad news for 2013.
8 Things Women Should Know Before Taking Emergency Contraception
Each year, 750,000 teens are getting pregnant. Often teens aren’t educated or equipped when having to handle the result of having unprotected sex. Out of every 10 teen girls, three will get pregnant before turning 20, according to DoSomething.org. … Young women often turn to emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) when a mishap occurs (condom breaking, missed pills or failure to use a birth control method).
Stem Cells Were One of the Biggest Controversies of 2001. Where Are They Now?
Remember stem cells? They were one of the biggest scientific controversies during the early years of George W. Bush’s presidency. … The stem-cell debate got really heated. But then … it just sort of fizzled out from public view. So whatever happened to stem cells?
The Five Arms for Maintaining Your Fertility Naturally
There have been some tremendous scientific developments over the last three decades in the realm of assisted conception, opening a great number of doors for women and transforming the way we think about fertility. However, I still believe that self-care needs to be front of mind for couples that are trying to conceive.
Source of Sperm and Egg’s Zinc Sparks Identified
When egg meets sperm in mammals, zinc sparks fly.
Few Employers Cover Egg Freezing for Women With Cancer
As some companies add egg freezing to their list of fertility benefits, they’re touting the coverage as a family-friendly perk. Women’s health advocates say they welcome any expansion of fertility coverage. But they say that the much-publicized changes at a few high-profile companies such as Facebook and Apple are still relatively rare, even for women with serious illnesses like cancer who want to preserve their fertility.
The Second Most Popular Form of Birth Control Will Surprise You
About 62% of U.S. women from ages 15 to 44 use some form of contraception, and predictably, the pill is still the most popular. About 16% of women used it in 2011-2013, finds the latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics. But the second most popular contraceptive may come as a surprise to many: 15.5% of women—just a hair behind the pill—choose female sterilization.
Oversold Prenatal Tests Spur Some to Choose Abortions
Sparked by the sequencing of the human genome a decade ago, a new generation of prenatal screening tests, including MaterniT21, has exploded onto the market in the past three years. The unregulated screens claim to detect with near-perfect accuracy the risk that a fetus may have Down or Edwards syndromes, and a growing list of other chromosomal abnormalities.
Hormone Therapy Timing Hypothesis Gains Ground in ELITE
During six years of follow-up, the rate of increase in carotid IMT among the women who entered the study at least ten years after the start of menopause tracked nearly identically between those on hormone therapy and those on placebo, with a difference between the two arms that was not statistically significant.