Infertility, treatment

Young P, Purdie D, Jackman L, Molloy D, Green A. A study of infertility treatment and melanoma. Melanoma Res 2001 11(5) 535 U. 

Both the hypothesis of ovarian injury and that of gonadotropic influence seem to provide tempting explanations for any relation that there may be between infertility treatment and ovarian cancer, since such treatment both induces further ovarian injury by ovulation (sometimes multiple) and increases circulating gonadotropin concentrations. However, the existence of a possible mechanism does not prove that there actually is an association. 

Buck Louis GM, Schisterman EF, Dukic VM, Schieve LA (2004) Research hurdles complicating the analysis of infertility treatment and child health. Hum Reprod, 20 12-18. 

After the age of 35 in women, fecundity decreases sharply. Delaying childbearing until the age of 35 or beyond is therefore one of the major reasons why in the last decade attention has been drawn to the decline in fertility in older women (Gl, S8, S26, V2). The number of couples seeking help for infertility problems after their 30s and even 40s is increasing (P6). People of advancing age are destined to end up in a sort of age trap of declining fecundity and therefore the need for more time to conceive on the one hand and, on the other hand, less time available to conceive because of declining fecundity. The older the people are who need infertility treatment, the more they will feel the pressure to conceive within a short period of time (P7) the demand for assisted reproduction techniques, such as intrauterine insemination (IUI) after ovarian hyperstimulation or in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer, will therefore increase. 

Economic costs for adverse reproductive and developmental outcomes are noteworthy and expected to grow. Annual costs for infertility treatment in the United States exceed one billion dollars (U.S. Congress 1988). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the cost to society for developmental defects is massive (i.e., the lifetime costs for children bom annually with 17 of the most common birth defects and cerebral palsy is over 8 billion (CDC 1995)). However, these abnormalities affect only 22% of children with birth defects, and the cost estimate does not consider costs associated with many other developmental disorders. A recent study estimated the total lifetime costs for persons bom in 1996 with mental retardation, autism, or cerebral palsy to be 47 billion, 4.9 billion, and 12 billion, respectively (Honeycutt et al. 1999). 

Tavaniotou, A., Smitz, J., Bourgain, C., and Devroey, P. (2000), Comparison between different routes of progesterone administration as luteal phase support in infertility treatments, Hum. Reprod. Update, 6,139-148. 

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is one of the gonadotrophin hormones (with LH), secreted by the anterior pituitary gland and consists of double peptide chains. In women, in conjunction with LH, it causes the monthly ripening in one ovary of a follicle, and stimulates ovulation. In men it stimulates the production of sperm in the testes. It may be injected therapeutically in female infertility treatment to stimulate ovulation. It is available in several forms, e.g. urofollitrophin or menotrophin which is a 1 1 mix ofFSH/LH. 

Folhcle stimulating hormone (FSH) In the female, FSH stimulates development of folhcles in the ovary and the secretion of oestrogen by the maturing folhcle In the male, FSH is involved in the development of sperm Infertility treatment... 

In 1994, nearly one-third of all first births were by women older than 35 years of age, an interesting statistic that highlights the recent trend to delay having children (88,91). With this delay comes an age-related reduction in fertility and the need to employ one or more pharmacological therapies to achieve a live birth. There have been more than 1 million babies born as a result of in vitro fertilization (IVF), with nearly one in three embryo-transfer cycles resulting in a live birth (92). Many infertility treatment options and protocols are available, most of which are highly individualized (Table 46.13) (89). 

Women in Study of Metals and Assisted Reproductive Technologies women referred to Center for Reproductive Health at UCSF for infertility treatment and first IVF procedure... 

The first half of the twentieth century witnessed the discovery of the three most important hormones involved in reproduction, the female hormones estrogen and progesterone, and the male hormone testosterone. Soon after, companies began to manufacture the first synthetic hormones for the treatment of infertility. In 1944, the first laboratory test showing that human oocytes could be fertilized in vitro was carried out. Thirty-four years later, the first so-called test-tube baby was born in England, and sperm banks became more common. The late twentieth century saw two more milestones in infertility treatment the first successful implantation and pregnancy with an egg that had been cryopreserved and the development of intracytoplasmic sperm injection technology. 

In Vitro Fertilization. In vitro fertilization (IVF) is one of the most common applications of assisted reproduction technology. The Latin term in vitro literally means in glass. In vitro fertilization is a medical procedure in which egg cells are fertilized not inside the body (in vivo) but within an artihcial laboratory environment. Because this procedure is both complex and expensive, it is often employed to help couples for whom other infertility treatments have already failed. 

It has recently been found that kisspeptin can restart the female reproductive system in women who have stopped ovulating due to an imbalance in their sex hormones. Kisspeptin is therefore a potential basis for a new infertility treatment - the kiss of life indeed ... 

J. Mendiola, A.M. Torres-Cantero, J.M. Moreno-Grau, et al.. Exposure to environmental toxins in males seeking infertility treatment a case-controlled study, Reprod. Biomed. Online 16 (6) (2008) 842-850. 

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