News by Subject Social & Behavior

An international team of researchers has identified a chain of events that matures the sperm and triggers their motility. The findings have implications for diagnostic and therapeutic research in male infertility and male contraceptive development.

Women who deliver their first child by cesarean section (C-section) are less likely to conceive a second child than those who deliver vaginally, despite being just as likely to plan a subsequent pregnancy, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. The team followed more than 2,000 women for three years after they delivered their first child.

The presence of an abnormal number of chromosomes in the genetic profile of early-stage embryos may be far more common - and potentially less threatening - during normal human development than is currently appreciated, according to new research from Johns Hopkins University biologists.

An add-on treatment commonly offered to patients in preparation for IVF has proved ineffective in a large-scale randomized trial of more than 1000 women. Those who had endometrial scratch before their first IVF treatment were found to be no more successful than a control group receiving routine treatment.

A follow-up study of almost 20,000 young women who had a first cycle of IVF in Denmark between 1995 and 2014 indicates that those who responded poorly to treatment, with few eggs collected, are at a significantly increased risk of later age-related diseases.

An analysis of data from more than 1,300 women followed prospectively through pregnancy found that women with lower levels of the essential mineral manganese in early pregnancy were more likely to develop the serious high blood pressure syndrome called preeclampsia in late pregnancy.

Increasing the levels of a chemical found in all human cells could boost a woman's fertility and help select the best eggs for IVF, according to University of Queensland research.

Fifteen years ago a large population study from Denmark found a significantly increased risk of cerebral palsy in infants born as a result of assisted reproduction. Although the absolute risk was small, such studies at this time made cerebral palsy the greatest developmental birth defect risk associated with IVF, and a concern in its overall safety profile.

Couples embarking on IVF to treat their infertility tend to overestimate their chance of success, according to a prospective study of 69 couples having at least their second treatment attempt. Such over-optimism, suggest the authors, may be a source of distress or even a reason to discontinue their IVF treatment.