A study of 229 Israeli women undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to treat infertility found that a 15-minute visit from a trained “medical clown” immediately after the embryos were placed in the womb increased the chance of …
Fertility
Predicting IVF Success: There’s an App for That
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a money-, time-, and dignity- gobbling exercise with lower than a third chance of success.
The New-Old Practice of Vaginal Steam Baths
Spas offer treatments for just about every body part these days, so it isn’t terribly surprising that the Tikkun Holistic Spa in Santa Monica is now offering a $50 V-Steam — literally a steam bath for their female clients’ …
Study: BPA Exposure May Reduce Chances of IVF
Toxins love to get you while you’re young. Lead, mercury, secondhand smoke and sundry other environmental nasties do a lot more damage when tissue is immature, vulnerable and growing than when it’s mature and comparatively fixed.
Sale Alert! Holiday Savings on Sperm
While it’s far from a traditional gift, vials of sperm may be at the top of the list for couples and single women facing infertility. A sale on sperm from two branches of the world’s largest group of sperm banks could at least …
Putting to Rest Fears that IVF May Be Linked to Cancer
In the wake of Elizabeth Edwards’ death, many women are wondering whether the fertility treatments the former Senator’s wife underwent to bear children late in life — she leaves behind two young children, ages 10 and 12 — …
Researchers Question When to Stop Trying With IVF
A team of researchers found that women’s success rates using in vitro fertilization (IVF) did not improve much after the first three cycles. About one in three women had a baby after their first attempt with IVF, and nearly half …
First Comes Cancer, Then Come Children: The New World of Oncofertility
Cancer used to be an old people’s disease. No longer: we all have friends and colleagues — young people, in their 20s, 30s, 40s — who’ve been on the receiving end of a scary diagnosis. The good news is that a verdict of …
Study: An IUD May Treat Endometrial Cancer and Preserve Fertility in Young Women
A new study finds that intrauterine devices (IUD), which are traditionally used as contraceptives, could help treat early stage endometrial cancer in women who wish to preserve their fertility.
One-Night Stands Explained: Men Prefer Hot Bods to Pretty Faces
Ladies, hit the gym (and hold the makeup). Unless you’re gunning for a long-term relationship, it’s your hot bod — and not your winsome face — that guys are after.
Study: IVF Causes Higher Rates of Baby Boys
Though the ratio of boys to girls born in the United States has been on the decline for decades, new research found that moms who use in vitro fertilization might increase the number of male babies.
Why It’s Harder For Older Women to Have Healthy Babies
No one likes being labeled, but celebrate your 35th birthday and get pregnant and you’re out of luck: like it or not, the letters “AMA” get slapped across your chart.
The Strange World of Drug Origins: Nuns’ Urine, Yew Trees and Rooster Combs
Some people go to infamous extremes to get high — smoking dried toad venom, for example, or in one Northern culture, drinking the urine of reindeer that are tripping on psychedelic mushrooms. And yet, stranger sources than …