40 years later, why is IVF still not covered by insurance? Economics, ignorance and sexism
Before I (Elissa Strauss) began the process of in-vitro fertilization, I, quite foolishly, thought of it as outsourcing. We can't make a baby ourselves, so now these wonderful doctors are going to try to make one for us. But believing that IVF is like outsourcing is like believing that one of those allegedly simple, do-it-yourself home renovation projects will really only take a couple of hours. Materials have be meticulously sourced, created and combined, and the smallest mi
First IVF babys 40th birthday: How a tiny girl changed science and the world
In July 1978, "You're the one that I want" from Grease was top of the pops in Australia, women were marching for equal rights in the US, and Louise Joy Brown was born in the United Kingdom. Weighing in at around 2.5 kilograms, the world's first "test tube baby" was delivered by caesarean section under torchlight — to avoid tipping off the media — in Oldham General Hospital, shortly before midnight on July 25. The Daily Mail reportedly paid around 325,000 British pounds for he
Antioxidant supplements fail to improve sperm quality in infertile men
Despite many study results suggesting that antioxidants have a positive effect on abnormal sperm parameters associated with male infertility, a large US clinical trial of 174 couples has found that an antioxidant formulation taken daily by the male partner for a minimum of three months made no difference to sperm concentration, motility or morphology, nor to the rate of DNA fragmentation. Results of the study, which was performed in eight American fertility centers with the s
Secondhand smoke causing thousands of still births in developing countries
Exposure to secondhand smoke during pregnancy increases the risk of stillbirth, congenital malformations, low birth-weight and respiratory illnesses. However, little is known about the extent of secondhand smoke exposure during pregnancy. The team from York looked at the number of pregnancies alongside smoking exposure data in 30 developing countries from 2008 to 2013. The analysis revealed that in Armenia, Indonesia, Jordan, Bangladesh and Nepal more than 50% of pregnant wom
Doctors rely on more than just data for medical decision-making
Many technology companies are working on artificial intelligence systems that can analyze medical data to help diagnose or treat health problems. Such systems raise the question of whether this kind of technology can perform as well as a human doctor. A new study from MIT computer scientists suggests that human doctors provide a dimension that, as yet, artificial intelligence does not. By analyzing doctors' written notes on intensive-care-unit patients, the researchers found
Babys sex may influence risk of pregnancy-related complications
The sex of a baby controls the level of small molecules known as metabolites in the pregnant mother's blood, which may explain why risks of some diseases in pregnancy vary depending whether the mother is carrying a boy or a girl, according to new research from the University of Cambridge. The findings, published today in JCI Insight, help to explain, for example, why male babies in the womb may be more vulnerable to the effects of poor growth, and why being pregnant with a gi
