fertilitymalaysia.com

UK gives free IVF to women up to 42 years old.

admin — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:34:57 +0000

IVF for the over 40s (Image courtesy of Graur Codrin/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

The current guidelines in the UK state that women up to the age of 39 years should be offered up to three attempts at IVF at the state’s cost (ie public funding). That however, has been seen to discriminate against women above 40 and there has been intense lobbying over the years to allow older women access to this free treatment.

Well, at last the pleas have been noted and acted upon. The NICE guidelines, which are drafted by the Govt, and which all healthcare providers are meant to abide by, now has upwardly revised the age criteria for ivf to 42 years. So in theory, all women under 42 years can avail themselves of free ivf on the Govt’s account. In reality however, there are funding restrictions on the healthcare system, so it remains to be seen how many of the over 40s will actually benefit from this move. My guess is that unfortunately, in this time of recession and economic downturn, there is simply not going to be enough money in the NHS (UKs National Healthcare Service) to fund this. As it is, women below 40 are complaining that they are not getting their ivf entitlement.

Sadly even in the Government sector, money plays a part in whether you have a chance at parenthood.

ICSI could be improved by adding a missing protein.

admin — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:15:50 +0000

Male fertility problems generally stem from their sperm being unable to activate the female’s egg. Even though the sperm fuses with the egg, nothing happens and conceiving a child doesn’t occur. And even during ICSI , when the sperm has been injected into the egg, a good embryo does not develop. This is one reason why sometimes eggs do not fertilise.

A study performed by scientists at Cardiff University in Wales, has demonstrated that one form of male infertility could be caused by the male sperm lacking a specific protein. Their results have been published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, and could lead to the eventual treatment of this form of male infertility.

The protein known as PLC-zeta is required to activate the female’s egg when it combines with the sperm. By injecting the egg with the protein that is missing, it can launch the embryo development, leading to a dramatic increase in the chances of a pregnancy. Scientists at the University are looking to produce the missing protein and use it to stimulate egg activation, which could offer couples who are undergoing IVF and ICSI greater pregnancy rates.

It could be some time before the protein is fully developed and used in clinical treatments for patients with poor sperm but it could ultimately improve the treatment of male infertility, and the chances of having a baby.

Birth defects with IVF and ICSI decreasing

admin — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 08:40:38 +0000

There has always been a worry that fertility treatment may slightly increase the chance of a birth defect.

A new study published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology suggests that the prevalence of birth defects in births conceived with IVF and ICSI may be declining. The research which was performed in Australia, analysed data over a decade and discovered that birth defects reduced over the ten year period.

The study looked at 207,000 births, including 1,328 babies conceived through IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) and 633 babies by ICSI (Intracytoplasmic sperm injection), from 1994 to 2002.

It is unclear why babies born through ART are slightly more prone to have a birth defect to begin with, but the study shows they are definitely becoming less frequent. Michele Hansen, the lead author of the study, suggested that improvements to laboratory practice, changes to medications and a decrease in the number of embryos transfered may have all had a positive impact on the baby’s health.

While recent studies have suggested that IVF or ICSI is linked with approximately 4% chance of a birth defect, this study shows that the defects are decreasing and will hopefully continue to do so. Natural conception has a slightly lower chance (3%) of birth defect, a difference of only 1% compared to IVF.

There is in fact, a much greater risk of birth defects and miscarriage from parental smoking, alcohol consumption and other lifestyle factors.

Obese women have lower egg quality in IVF

admin — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:30:52 +0000

ivf and obesity

(Image: Michelle Meiklejohn at freedigitalphotos.net)

New research published in the online journal Human Reproduction, has suggested that the reason obese women have problems becoming pregnant through IVF or ICSI, could be due to the reduced quality of their eggs.

For an egg to fertilise correctly and to support embryo development in a healthy way, it needs have a single egg structure known as a ‘spindle’, and attached to this is one set of chromosomes which are organised correctly. The research which was undertaken at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, found that severely obese women suffer greater chance of having eggs that have jumbled chromosomes, and multiple spindles, which can lead to conceiving problems.

276 mature eggs were studied, 105 from obese women and 171 from women of a normal weight. Almost 60% of the eggs from obese women had two spindles, and 30% had disorganised chromosomes. The findings for normal weight women were significantly lower.

The study demonstrated how weight and body mass can significantly alter egg quality and conceiving chances. It interestingly comes shortly after a decision by several IVF clinics in the UK in 2012 to deny treatment to women wanting to undergo IVF, if they had a BMI (Body Mass Index) of over 30. Their decision was based on evidence that being significantly overweight can reduce fertility.

Sperm, caffeine & cola

admin — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:54:44 +0000

Cola reduces sperm counts

The effect of caffeine on sperm count and quality remains hotly debated. Some studies have shown no difference but again there are others that suggest some effect of excess caffeine intake.

In coming to a conclusion, it is good to look at studies which study large number of patients. The larger the numbers of patients, the more likely the results are to be correct. So when the recent study in the American Journal of Epidemiology entitled “Caffeine intake and semen quality in a population of 2,554 young Danish men” concluded that heavy intake of cola depressed sperm counts by approximately 30%, we have to look seriously at the results due to the large number of men followed up over an extended period of time (four years). Whether this is due to the high intake of caffeine or to some other ingredient in cola is not known.

There was no effect on mild to moderate drinkers of cola, so for those of us who enjoy an occassional cola drink, there seems to be little or no risk. However, like all good things in life, moderation is the key. Apart from cola, other sources of caffiene include tea, coffee and chocolate.

Infertility amidst overpopulation

admin — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 11:44:07 +0000

We reached a milestone this week as the world’s population crossed 7 billion. We breached 6 billion in 1999 so it took us only twelve short years to add a billion humans to our already stretched resources. That means 1000 million in twelve years or an astounding 83 million every year! As governments ponder on how to feed, clothe, employ, provide social services and look after the health of these extra people, another increasing trend is also at play- the falling of fertility and birth rates worldwide. So whilst population continues to escalate, another segment of humanity struggles to have even one child to call their own. Such is the dilemma of the policymakers- to encourage population control while at the same time providing fertility services to those in need. And since we are already overpopulated, it is no surprise that governments do not spend large sums on free or subsidised fertility clinics.

Now do you see why infertility treatment is mainly available in the private sector worldwide, and not in government hospitals? Or that even in public hospitals, you still have to pay for it when most other services (eg childbirth) are heavily subsidised or free?

Good food, great sperm.

admin — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 09:21:09 +0000

Good Nutrition improves male fertility

More links between food and sperm. Researchers at the University of Murcia in Spain, enrolled young male volunteers into a study to assess the effects of diet on sperm quality. The first group were asked to eat a “western” diet – a diet rich in red meat, refined carbs, sweets and energy drinks. The second group were asked to eat a ”prudent” diet- a diet rich in fish, fruit, vegetables and grains.

After three months, sperm tests were done to assess sperm parameters such as concentration(sperm count), motility (movement) and morphology (shape). Those who had the prudent diet demonstrated significantly better sperm movement while the sperm of men with the western diets was found to be less likely to survive the journey to fertilise an egg, the researchers said.

So here is simple advice for men trying to start families. Eat healthy and your partner is likely to get pregnant faster. In Malaysia, we are blessed with an abundance of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and grain (rice). Eat like our parents and we will reproduce as they did!

Junk food and male infertility

admin — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 09:07:37 +0000

Junk food affects sperm quality

We are what we eat. Time and again we are told this but choose to ignore it. A recent study conducted in the US shows surprisingly strong association between the intake of junk food and quality of sperm. It appears that a diet high in trans fatty acids, found abundantly in junk foods and snacks, reduces sperm quality. This in turn reduces the ability of sperm to fertilise an egg and can lead to lower pregnancy chances for the female partner.

Young men between the ages of 18 to 22 years old were asked to keep a food diary and this was correlated to their sperm quality. Those with the highest intake of junk foods had the lowest quality. The lead author of the study, Audrey Gaskins says “The main overall finding of our work is that a healthy diet seems to be beneficial for semen quality.”

Nicely put, Audrey. Now all we have to do is convince the young gentlemen in our families to eat healthy. Given modern lifestyles of the young, it seems like a tall order.

Azoospermia & artificial sperm

admin — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 03:36:35 +0000

Azoospermia may be treatable

Finally, some light for those who have azoospermia, ie have no sperm at all. Till now this has been completely untreatable and the couple have had no option but to adopt a child or use donor sperm. The work on artificial sperm has been ongoing for many years with some sporadic successes reported. This report however, is the closest we have been to viable artificial sperm from which offspring have been born. While the work relates to laboratory mice, it is only a matter of time (beware, this may take years) before we begin to see human work. Ongoing work will have to demonstrate that this is a safe procedure without genetic defects in the offspring before any human sperm development is attempted.

If you are not squeamish, here is a photo of the mouse calves born after the use of the artificial sperm. They are identical to the real calves in every way.

Azoospermia may be treatable

We salute the Japanese scientists for their breakthrough in this area of research.

EPF withdrawal for IVF treatment?

admin — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 10:51:14 +0000

IVF money from EPF?

There is no doubt that fertility treatment is expensive. And success is not guaranteed, so the treatment may have to be repeated, incurring more cost. So any financial help available is most welcome. Our neighbour down south allows its citizens to withdraw money from the provident fund to help pay for ivf treatment. Why not here? Someone in the corridors of power must have heard the thousands of requests and prayers. At the recent 2nd National Reproductive Medicine Congress here in Kuala Lumpur, the Minister of Health announced that his Ministry would propose to the Cabinet that Malaysians also be allowed to tap into their EPF savings for IVF treatment. It may take a while for all this to materialise, but at least someone has made the first move. Congratulations to the Minister for listening to the Rakyat’s plea and acting on it.