Here is a round up of the fertility stories in the BBC news in the last couple of months:
Women with a history of eating disorders may struggle to fall pregnant quickly, research suggests.
They are also more than twice as likely to need fertility treatment, a study of more than 11,000 UK mothers has found.
Pregnancy rates after six months were lower in women with anorexia or bulimia, but by a year they were the same as the general population.
Would-be mothers should seek help early for any symptoms of eating disorders, say researchers.
They may need extra support during and after pregnancy, a team from King’s College London and University College London reported in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
BBC News 3/8/2011
Read the full story here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14370824
By Caroline Parkinson Health editor, BBC News website 4/8/11
Fertility experts are hailing a mouse study in which working sperm cells were created from embryonic stem cells in mice as “hugely exciting”.
Japanese researchers successfully implanted early sperm cells, made from the stem cells, into infertile mice.
The working sperm which they made was then used to father healthy, and crucially fertile, pups, Cell journal reports.
A UK expert said it was a significant step forward in infertility research
Read the full story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14404183
By Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website 21/7/11
As many as a quarter of men have a genetic change which makes them less fertile than usual, research suggests.
The discovery could lead to a new screening test to identify those who will take longer to father a child, experts report in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The change is in a gene that codes for a key protein found on the outside of sperm.
Sperm lacking in the substance find it harder to swim to the egg.
Researchers believe a man with the altered gene can still get his partner pregnant, but this will take longer than usual.
Dr Edward Hollox of the University of Leicester is a co-author of the study.
We understand little about the subtle molecular events which occur in sperm as they make their journey through the woman’s body to fertilise an egg
Dr Allan Pacey University of Sheffield
He told the BBC: “If you’ve got this gene variant you should allow that little bit longer if your partner’s planning to get pregnant.
“It takes two – it’s the genetic variation in a man that affects fertility in this particular case.”
Read the full story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14219907