White wine can dramatically reduce the chances of a successful pregnancy for women undergoing IVF, scientists have warned.
They also told men to avoid beer to maximise their chances of becoming a father.
A large-scale study of couples in their 30s found that even low levels of alcohol consumption can increase the risk of miscarriage or an embryo not implanting properly in the womb.
Sharing just one bottle of wine a week could cut a couple’s chances of having a baby by 26 per cent. Read the rest of this entry »
Over the years, immunization has saved millions of lives and prevented hundreds of millions of cases of disease. Today in the United States, children routinely get vaccines that protect them from 14 diseases, all of which, at one time or another, were a serious threat to our country’s children.
For instance, diphtheria used to be one of the most dreaded of childhood diseases, killing more than 10,000 Americans each year, but today’s doctors are likely to never see a single case. And smallpox, which was one of the most devastating diseases the world has ever known, has been eradicated from the Earth thanks to vaccination. Read the rest of this entry »
A common antidepressant combined with an intensive treadmill training program helped people with partial spinal cord injuries walk better and faster, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.
They said Forest Laboratories’ antidepressant Lexapro or escitalopram, which affects a message-carrying brain chemical called serotonin, helps strengthen remaining nerve connections along the spine, giving patients with spinal cord injuries more ability to control their muscles during training.
“The drug is enhancing the effects of the therapy,” said George Hornby, a research scientist at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, who is presenting his findings at the Society for Neuroscience’s meeting in Chicago. Read the rest of this entry »
Smoking crack cocaine daily adds to the risk of spreading HIV, a Canadian study published on Monday says, although researchers acknowledge they are not sure about the exact link.
The researchers, who studied the relationship between drug use and HIV in Vancouver’s impoverished Downtown Eastside, one of Canada’s most drug infested neighborhoods, said the findings show the need for new efforts, such as opening “safe inhalation rooms”, to help drug addicts.
The nine-year study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, also found that the number of addicts smoking crack cocaine on a daily basis in the neighborhood has increased steadily. Read the rest of this entry »
Prostate cancer patients who chose minimally invasive surgery rather than more extensive operations to remove the prostate were less likely to experience complications like pneumonia, but reported higher rates of long-term problems, including impotence and incontinence, according to one of the largest studies to compare outcomes to date.
Patients achieved similar rates of cancer control regardless of which surgery they had, the analysis found. Read the rest of this entry »
UK doctors say a treatment for heavy periods caused by fibroids can seriously harm a subsequent pregnancy.
An Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital study looked at the outcomes of 215 pregnancies following uterine artery embolisation (UAE) treatment.
The researchers found much higher rates of miscarriage, caesareans and heavy bleeding after delivery, and call for caution in recommending the treatment.
The study appears in the journal, The Obstetrician and Gynaecologist.
UAE has been available as a treatment in the UK since 1995. Read the rest of this entry »
