HIV positive women with cytomegalovirus may infect their babies with the virus

HIV-positive women with cytomegalovirus CMV, in their urine at the time of delivery may pass the virus to their babies.

Women who had gonorrhea when they gave birth may also infect their babies with CMV. Babies infected through their mothers and those with weakened immune systems will experience serious health problems.

CMV can impair fetal growth, cause birth defects and babies born with the virus can have damage to their brain, liver, lung and spleen.

 Researchers examined 260 pairs of mothers and 222 babies from who were enrolled in a perinatal study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

After testing the mothers' and infants' urine for detectable CMV, the researchers discovered that- 2 percent of the women had detectable CMV and 3.8 percent of babies had the virus.

Eight percent of women with detectable CMV had babies with the virus, as opposed to 2.1 percent of women who did not have CMV.

Two percent of women with detectable CMV transmitted the virus to their babies compared with 8.1 of those who did not have CMV.

        haleplushearty.blogspot.com

Fever in pregnancy increases risk of autism

Fever during pregnancy may raise the risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the child. The effect was high in the second trimester, raising odds for ASD by 40 percent.

Risk of an ASD was increased by over 300 percent for the children of women reporting three or more fevers after four months of pregnancy.

The researchers followed 95,754 children born between 1999 and 2009, including 583 cases of ASD identified in Norway through the Autism Birth Cohort (ABC) Study.

Mothers of 15,701 children (16 percent) reported fever in one or more four-week intervals throughout pregnancy, similar to rates reported in the U.S. ASD risk was increased by 34 percent when mothers reported fever at any time during pregnancy, and by 40 percent in the second trimester.

The risk increased in a dose-dependent fashion from 1.3-fold with one or two fever episodes after the twelfth prenatal week to 3.12-fold with three or more.

Gestational maternal infection and innate immune responses to infection in the onset of  pregnancy can increase some cases of autism spectrum disorder.

            haleplushearty.blogspot.com

Facts about surgical menopause

Menopause occurs when a woman has not had her period for 12 months or more. This occurs when the ovaries stop producing or produce reduced amounts of female hormone, this is common in 40s or 50s.

The ovaries are small organs situated either side of the uterus. They produce hormones, such as estrogen and
progesterone, that control a woman's menstrual cycle.

Without ovaries to release hormones, a woman will go through menopause at an earlier time. This can have both short- and long-term effects on women that they should prepare for and be aware of.

Surgical menopause, which is also known as a bilateral oophorectomy, is a procedure in which a woman's ovaries are removed.

In most cases, the procedure involve a small cut in the lower abdomen to access and remove the ovaries.
Sometimes, a doctor will perform an oophorectomy along with other gynecological surgeries, including:
hysterectomy, which is the removal of the uterus

Salpingectomy, which is the removal of the fallopian tubes that are near the
ovaries, salpingo-oophorectomy, which is the removal of both the ovaries and the fallopian tubes.

There are several reasons why a doctor may perform an oophorectomy, which induces menopause. These include:
endometriosis, non-cancerous ovarian tumors or cysts.

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HSG fertility method reduces need for IVF

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) has revolutionized fertility treatment. The most common type of ART is in vitro fertilization (IVF), in which a woman's eggs are removed and fertilized in a laboratory, and the resulting embryos are then transferred back into the woman.

A recent study, testing a procedure that dates back 100 years, offers hope of a solution that is significantly cheaper and quicker. Flushing the fallopian tubes with an iodized poppy seed oil.

The procedure was first carried out in 1917. It is a dye test conducted under X-ray and is used to examine the uterus and fallopian tubes of women having trouble becoming pregnant. Either water-based or oil-based solutions are used to flush the tubes.

HSG was designed as an imaging procedure, rather than a treatment.
Pregnancy rates among infertile women has increase after their tubes had been flushed with either water or oil during HSG procedure.

The study involved 1,119 women who were trying for a child. Half of the participants received an HSG using oil- Lipiodol Ultra-Fluid, an iodized solution of fatty acids made from poppy seeds

The other half of the participants had an HSG using water. 40 percent of the women in the oil group and 29 percent in the water group conceived within 6 months of having the procedure.

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