Surgery is required for a doctor to confirm a woman has endometriosis, though scientists think a blood test may prove to be effective at diagnosing patients without cutting them open. Measuring women’s lipid profiles may allow doctors to diagnose the often painful condition with a blood test, according to studies with mice conducted by scientists at Penn State University.
Category: Fertility Headlines
Blood Test for Endometriosis May be Possible Researchers Say
Surgery is required for a doctor to confirm a woman has endometriosis, though scientists think a blood test may prove to be effective at diagnosing patients without cutting them open. Measuring women’s lipid profiles may allow doctors to diagnose the often painful condition with a blood test, according to studies with mice conducted by scientists at Penn State University.
Gaps In Women’s Health Care May Derail Zika Prevention In Texas, Florida
Mosquitoes bearing Zika — a virus that can cause birth defects when contracted by pregnant women — are expected to reach the United States as soon as this summer, with Florida and Texas likely to be among the hardest-hit states.
GOP Objection kills Senate Funding for Military Fertility Program
In January the Pentagon launched a pilot program that allowed U.S. troops to freeze their sperm and eggs before deployment. Defense Secretary Ash Carter lauded it as a way that service members could preserve their reproductive cells in case they suffered catastrophic wounds or merely wanted to put off having children. Now the program might be heading for a quick demise: On Tuesday, the Republican-led Senate voted 85-13 to approve a $602 billion military spending bill for 2017 that stripped funding for the program.
Birthday Honours: Mitochondrial Disease Doctor Recognised
The doctor behind a groundbreaking IVF technique which prevents disabling genetic disorders from being passed on to future generations has been knighted.
Rethinking Embryo Research Rules
For more than 35 years, there has been broad international agreement that no scientist can experiment on an embryo that is more than 14 days old. This red line was established as scientific guidance in the United States in 1979, and it was incorporated into British law after the 1984 Warnock inquiry into in vitro fertilization. Other nations, including Australia, Sweden and China, have since adopted the same limit, either in law or through scientific regulation.
Most Fertility Apps Miscalculate the Fertile Window
Fertility websites and smartphone apps vary in how they calculate a woman’s fertile window, and many get it wrong, according to a new study. For example, 78.8% of apps and 75.0% of websites included days after ovulation as part of the fertile window, even though conception is unlikely to occur during that part of a woman’s cycle.
China’s Call to Young Men: Your Nation Needs Your Sperm
If you’re a man in China between 20 and 45, the government has a message for you: For the sake of your country, please donate sperm. China’s sperm banks are facing severe shortages, for a variety of political and cultural reasons. Comparatively few Chinese men offer to donate, and a study found that almost half of those who do volunteer are screened out. Now that government policy allows more Chinese couples, including older couples, to have a second child, officials are concerned that the sperm shortages will get much worse — and they are doing everything they can to find new recruits.
Surprisingly, This Is the Best Age to Freeze Your Eggs
Egg freezing is slowly becoming mainstream. From a medical standpoint, it’s no longer considered experimental. Tech companies are starting to offer it as a perk. And cryopreservation banks even throw “egg-freezing parties” to convince women that it’s a smart way to extend their childbearing windows.
Draft Defense Bill Seeks to Scuttle Pentagon Egg, Sperm Storage Benefit
A single line in the Senate’s 1,166-page proposed defense policy bill could derail the Pentagon’s plan to give troops the option of freezing their sperm or eggs for future use.