Wednesday, October 19, 2011

News Clips from the World of Pregnancy, Infertility & Motherhood - vol 1

Amazing Science News

Prenatal blood test for Down syndrome available
By Shari Roan
Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog
October 19, 2011
"A prenatal blood test that can detect Down syndrome in a fetus in early pregnancy is now available to doctors in 20 U.S. cities, says the developer of the test, Sequenom Inc."

Breastmilk to provide stem cells
The University of Western Australia   
October 18, 2011
“Human breastmilk has the potential to help people suffering from diseases including Parkinson's disease and diabetes, according to a researcher at The University of Western Australia.  Dr Hassiotou, a member of the UWA Hartmann Human Lactation Research Group, has discovered that human breastmilk contains stem cells which are able to turn into not only breast cells, but also cells of the bone, cartilage, fat, brain, liver and pancreas, depending on the medium in which they are grown.”
How awesome is that?!

Official Announcements

New SIDS Guidelines Say Breastfeeding Lowers Risk
By Rita Rubin
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD
October 18, 2011

Sleeping in the Same Room but Not in the Same Bed Also Recommended
Fuzzy Math Award

Katrina's Aftermath: Failed Pregnancies for IVF Moms Nationwide
By Maureen Salamon
HealthDay Reporter
October 18, 2011
Researchers tracked outcomes for nearly 105,000 single-baby pregnancies among women who had undergone assisted reproductive technology (typically in vitro fertilization) across the country before and after the storm hit in August 2005.
The team found that pregnancies begun in the 18 months before the calamity were 87 percent less likely to end in a first-trimester miscarriage, compared to ART-assisted pregnancies initiated after the storm.
Stress may be the key here, experts said.

Award for the worst headline goes to:
Disclaimer - I think this article is lame, but I posted it because I thought it was laughable that someone pointed out a GOOD thing about PCOS.

Bright side to PCOS paradox
SUSANNAH SINGH
"Swedish researchers have found women diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) are more likely to suffer pregnancy complications, regardless of whether they have used fertility treatments."
Where’s the bright side you might be wondering? 
“PCOS might have been a good thing to have in times of food scarcity because it allowed the window of fertility to be extended and it allowed women to survive and reproduce in low fuel environments.” 
Riiight.  PCOS is awesome because we could still produce eggs at an older age compared to our counterparts that ovulate regularly? 


2 comments:

  1. wow that one about katrina is crazy. im not sure where they get that information from, but something besides a hurricane is bound to have affected the outcome. no way a storm that happened 6 years ago continues to affect 63% of the infertile populations ability to have a health pregnancy. Im from south LA and i can tell you its not like we live everyday dwelling on it here (i mean it does come up pretty regularly in conversation for example "well so and so was born before katrina so it had to have been at least 5 years ago", or "before we lost the house in katrina we had used to_____"), but i dont see how it could be a big enough deal to the rest of the country to affect their fertility so much :/

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree - that's why I made the header 'Fuzzy Math". I'm not sure how Katrina could have the far reaching consequences this study is claiming.

    ReplyDelete

ShareThis

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...