In pop culture and scientific research alike plenty of time has been devoted to the steady tick of women’s “biological clocks” — or in other words, a creeping awareness of the closing window for optimal fertility as we age. Yet apart from causing women to fret, it appears that waning fertility is also associated with a boost in sex
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Research presented this week at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Rome suggests that men whose mothers had several alcohol drinks per week during pregnancy may have lower quality sperm. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Aarhus in Denmark, studied 347 men born
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New research from Belgium and the U.K. suggests that women may increasingly be considering freezing their eggs as a way to prolong fertility as they pursue a career — or find the right romantic partner. A survey of nearly 200 female students found that half of those pursuing degrees in sports or education would consider freezing their
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It’s a discovery that could be even more revolutionary than the Pill: a blood test that can predict decades in advance when women will hit menopause.
Doctors in Israel report a preliminary study that could someday help create such a test; the research will be presented on Monday at a European fertility conference in Rome, the AP …
In new research presented today at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Genetics in Sweden, French geneticist Dr. Géraldine Viot of Maternité Port Royal hospital in Paris, highlights the elevated risk for congenital defects for children born using assisted reproductive technologies (ART), and stresses the need for
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Autism researchers from around the world are meeting this week in Philadelphia at the annual conference of the International Society for Autism Research, and have presented studies investigating everything from the impact of an autistic child on the strength of his or her parents’ marriage, to the merits of popular gluten-free,
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Among the 78 research projects to receive $100,000 grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation earlier this week as part of the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative, is an effort by researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, to develop a non-invasive, reversible form of birth control for men — using
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A new study published online earlier this week by the British medical journal The Lancet suggests that the number of women dying during pregnancy or childbirth has dropped by more than one third in the past three decades, from half a million annual deaths in 1980 to 343,000 as of 2008. The study, sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates
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After steadily growing from 2003 to 2006 and reaching an all-time high in 2007, the U.S. birth rate declined in 2008, coinciding with the economic downturn, according to a new analysis from the Pew Research Center. Utilizing 2008 birth and economic data available for 25 states, researchers noticed that in most states the birth rate
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Women who have taken the pill may live longer because they face less risk of heart disease and cancer, according to new study led by Dr. Philip Hannaford from Scotland’s University of Aberdeen. The study, published this week in the British Medical Journal, followed more than 46,000 female patients from 1,400 medical practices throughout
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Following a single ovarian transplant, a woman gave birth to two healthy children in two separate pregnancies—a first for the fertility technique that has been gaining ground among specialists, and may provide hope to women forced to confront potential infertility due to a battle with cancer. The case of Danish woman Stinne Holm
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It has been more than three decades since the very first “test tube baby” was born, and since that summer day in 1978, some three million babies have been brought into the world using assisted reproductive technology (ART). While the vast majority of those children are completely healthy, babies conceived using ART are generally at
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Women who give birth after age 40 face a higher risk of having an autistic child, regardless of the father’s age, according to a comprehensive study of all births in the state of California in the 1990s. Researchers from the University of California, Davis, found that a woman who gave birth after age 40 was 50% more likely to have an
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