Keeping up with all the information being thrown at you can be overwhelming
Eight of the most interesting things researchers learned about making and having babies in 2013
Catherine Pearson assembled a list of eight of the biggest health research findings about preconception, pregnancy and childbirth to come out in the last 12 months — with the caveat that science is a process and any finding requires replication and verification before it’s considered definitive.
Sleep and diet can affect fertility
Specific fertility treatments lead to more multiple births
Miscarriage is more common than most people know
Maternal exercise benefits newborns’ brains
Junk food addiction may start in the womb
Pregnancy interventions are common … and not always welcome
Autism and mental retardation among offspring born after in vitro fertilization
Continued study of the implications of ovarian stimulation, embryo culture, and multiple embryo transfer is required
” A study of more than 2.5 million children found no link between in vitro fertilization (IVF) and autism, but a slight increase in risk for mental retardation, or intellectual disabilities. Certain treatments used to specifically target male factor infertility – in particular, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, or ICSI – carried higher risks, but the overall risk of children being born with intellectual disabilities, defined as an IQ as under 70, was quite small. ”
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Between 1978 and 2010, approximately 5 million infants were born after in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments. Yet limited information on neurodevelopment after IVF exists, especially after the first year of life.
OBJECTIVE To examine the association between use of any IVF and different IVF procedures and the risk of autistic disorder and mental retardation in the offspring.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A population-based, prospective cohort study using Swedish national health registers. Offspring born between 1982 and 2007 were followed up for a clinical diagnosis of autistic disorder or mental retardation until December 31, 2009. The exposure of interest was IVF, categorized according to whether intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for male infertility was used and whether embryos were fresh or frozen. For ICSI, whether sperm were ejaculated or surgically extracted was also considered.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Relative risks (RRs) for autistic disorder and mental retardation and rates per 100,000 person-years, comparing spontaneously conceived offspring with those born after an IVF procedure and comparing 5 IVF procedures used in Sweden vs IVF without ICSI with fresh embryo transfer, the most common treatment. We also analyzed the subgroup restricted to singletons.
RESULTS Of the more than 2.5 million infants born, 30,959 (1.2%) were conceived by IVF and were followed up for a mean 10 (SD, 6) years. Overall, 103 of 6959 children (1.5%) with autistic disorder and 180 of 15,830 (1.1%) with mental retardation were conceived by IVF. The RR for autistic disorder after any procedure compared with spontaneous conception was 1.14 (95% CI, 0.94-1.39; 19.0 vs 15.6 per 100,000 person-years). The RR for mental retardation was 1.18 (95% CI, 1.01-1.36; 46.3 vs 39.8 per 100,000 person-years). For both outcomes, there was no statistically significant association when restricting analysis to singletons. Compared with IVF without ICSI with fresh embryo transfer, there were statistically significantly increased risks of autistic disorder following ICSI using surgically extracted sperm and fresh embryos (RR, 4.60 [95% CI, 2.14-9.88]; 135.7 vs 29.3 per 100,000 person-years); for mental retardation following ICSI using surgically extracted sperm and fresh embryos (RR, 2.35 [95% CI, 1.01-5.45]; 144.1 vs 60.8 per 100,000 person-years); and following ICSI using ejaculated sperm and fresh embryos (RR, 1.47 [95% CI, 1.03-2.09]; 90.6 vs 60.8 per 100,000 person-years). When restricting the analysis to singletons, the risks of autistic disorder associated with ICSI using surgically extracted sperm were not statistically significant, but the risks associated with ICSI using frozen embryos were significant for mental retardation (with frozen embryos, RR, 2.36 [95% CI, 1.04-5.36], 118.4 vs 50.6 per 100,000 person-years]; with fresh embryos, RR, 1.60 [95% CI, 1.00-2.57], 80.0 vs 50.6 per 100,000 person-years).
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Compared with spontaneous conception, IVF treatment overall was not associated with autistic disorder but was associated with a small but statistically significantly increased risk of mental retardation. For specific procedures, IVF with ICSI for paternal infertility was associated with a small increase in the RR for autistic disorder and mental retardation compared with IVF without ICSI. The prevalence of these disorders was low, and the increase in absolute risk associated with IVF was small.
Read Autism and mental retardation among offspring born after in vitro fertilization, JAMA. 2013;310(1):75-84. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.7222, July 3, 2013.
nfertility, infertility treatment, and achievement of pregnancy in female survivors of childhood cancer
Nearly 2/3 of cancer survivors who met the standards for clinical infertility were eventually able to conceive, the study finds
Women who had cancer as children are at greater risk for infertility.
There’s encouraging news for these women, however, in a study published in Lancet Oncology this week, which found that nearly two-thirds of those who tried and failed to get pregnant for at least one year eventually went on to conceive.
Sadly for many DES daughters having their own children is not possible! Many of us who have experienced miscarriages, want to have kids but are struggling or unable to…
