Asthma medication linked to infertility

The study of different women in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland shows that women with asthma who use long-acting asthma treatment could not conceive as quickly as other women. The study was led by Dr Luke Grzeskowiak from the University of Adelaide's Robinson Research Institute.

Dr Grzeskowiak says the results provide reassurance for asthmatic women that using inhaled corticosteroids to prevent symptoms does not appear to reduce fertility. Five to ten per cent of all women around the world have asthma and it is one of the most common chronic medical conditions in women of reproductive age.

Several studies have identified a link between asthma and female infertility, but the impact of asthma treatments on fertility has been unclear. Studying the effect of asthma treatments in women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant is important as women often express concerns about exposing their unborn babies to potentially harmful effects of medications.

The researchers examined data from the international Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE) study, which recruited more than 5600 women expecting their first babies in the early stages of pregnancy. Ten per cent of women in the study said they had asthma and, overall, these women took longer to get pregnant.

When researchers separated this group according to the types of asthma treatments they were using, they found no difference in fertility between women using long-acting asthma treatments and women without asthma. Women using short-acting reliever medication (known as beta-agonists) took 20% longer to conceive on average. They were also 30% more likely to have taken more than a year to conceive, which the researchers defined as the threshold for infertility.

This difference remained even after researchers took other factors known to influence fertility, such as age and weight. This study shows that women using short-acting asthma relievers take longer to get pregnant. On the other hand, continued use of long-acting asthma preventers to control asthma seems to protect fertility and reduce the time it takes women with asthma to become pregnant. This could lead to a reduction in the need for fertility treatments.

Maternal asthma has a negative impact on the health of pregnant women and their babies, women should take steps to get their asthma under control before trying to conceive. Inhaled corticosteroids suppress the immune system, whereas short-acting asthma treatments do not alter immune function. In women who are only using relievers it's possible that, while their asthma symptoms may improve, inflammation may still be present in the lungs and other organs in the body.
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Lab-grown eggs for fertility treatment

Scientists have grown egg cells, which were removed from ovary tissue at their earliest stage of development, to the point at which they are ready to be fertilised. The advance could safeguard the fertility of girls with cancer ahead of potentially harmful medical treatment, such as chemotherapy. Immature eggs recovered from patients' ovarian tissue could be matured in the lab and stored for later fertilisation.

Conventionally, cancer patients can have a piece of ovary removed before treatment, but reimplanting this tissue can risk reintroducing cancer. The study has also given insight into how human eggs develop at various stages, which could aid research into other infertility treatments and regenerative medicine. Scientists and medical experts worked together to develop suitable substances in which eggs could be grown - known as culture mediums - to support each stage of cell development. Their findings, using tissue donated by women who were undergoing routine surgery, build on 30 years of research.

In previous studies, scientists had developed mouse eggs to produce live offspring, and had matured human eggs from a relatively late stage of development. The latest study is the first time a human egg has been developed in the lab from its earliest stage to full maturity. Step one: very small, immature human eggs within ovarian tissue are placed in culture in the lab, and begin to develop Step two: after initial development, eggs have grown and are more than double their initial size.

 The ovarian follicles that contain the eggs are separated before further growth and monitoring Step three: eggs and their surrounding cells are removed from liquid culture to undergo further development in a nutrient-rich membrane. Step four: well-developed, mature eggs are ready for fertilisation. Being able to fully develop human eggs in the lab could widen the scope of available fertility treatments.
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Using marijuana does not reduce chances of getting pregnant

Marijuana use by either men or women does not lower chances of getting pregnant, according to a new study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researchers. Marijuana is one of the most widely used recreational drugs among individuals of reproductive age. Previous studies have examined the effects of marijuana use on reproductive hormones and semen quality, with conflicting results.

In Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO), a web-based prospective cohort study of North American couples, the researchers surveyed 4,194 women aged 21 to 45 living in the United States or Canada. The study specifically targeted women in stable relationships who were not using contraception or fertility treatment.

 Female participants were given the option to invite their male partners to participate; 1,125 of their male partners enrolled. The researchers found that during the period from 2013 through 2017, approximately 12 percent of female participants and 14 percent of male participants reported marijuana use in the two months before completing the baseline survey.

 After 12 cycles of follow-up, conception probabilities were similar among couples that used marijuana and those that did not. The researchers stressed that questions about the effects of marijuana use remain. Classifying people correctly according to the amount of marijuana used, especially when relying on self-reported data is challenging.
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IVF increases the risk of premature birth

In vitro fertilization IVF increases the risk of women giving birth prematurely. Ten per cent of women who conceived through fertility treatment gave birth before 37 weeks, which is considered premature. However, those born before 37 weeks are still more likely than full-term babies to suffer from a range of long-term problems, including cerebral palsy, and developmental conditions such as ADHD. IVF may trigger changes in the placenta, which increases the risk of premature birth.

Experts believe that freezing the embryo first and then implanting it later, rather than doing everything in the same menstrual cycle, may offer protection against the risk. Women who had IVF were 63 per cent more likely to give birth before 37 weeks than those who had conceived naturally. Some studies indicate that ‘sub-fertile’ women who have trouble conceiving tend to be biologically predisposed to premature birth because implantation process is compromised slightly by IVF.

The removal of eggs during fertility treatment could damage the womb’s lining. If implantation could be delayed after egg collection – as enabled by freezing embryos, then the womb could be given time to heal, leading to a better chance of pregnancy. The potential benefits of freezing embryos are highly dependent on the skills of different IVF clinic's. If implantation could be delayed by a month or two after egg collection, premature birth could be prevented.
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Ovarian freezing is better than eggs freezing

Freezing of ovaries preserve fertility better than eggs. Women who freezed their ovaries tissues can have babies easily in future.

Eggs freezing requires an IVF with hormone replacement therapy before conception can take place while ovarian freezing reverses menopause and increases the chance of natural pregnancy without any fertility treatment.

Ovarian tissue cryopreservation can be considered as a good option for fertility preservation for women who are not ready to have children now; busy with their career or undergoing cancer treatment and choose to have children at old age or after treatment.
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