Egg Timer Test proves unreliable guide to fertility

A popular fertility test designed to tell a woman how long she has left to fall pregnant is providing inaccurate and misleading results, creating a wave of panic among women in their 30s and 40s, Australia’s leading fertility expert, Dr Anne Clarke, said.

Dr Clarke, medical director of Fertility First in Sydney, said a recent British study, plus anecdotal evidence, had found the simple blood test, known as the Egg Timer Test, was unreliable and becoming discredited worldwide. ”I have big concerns about its accuracy,” she said. ”I’m seeing a lot of women turning up at my clinic in an incredibly distressed state and highly depressed because they’ve been told the test showed they had no chance of having a baby. It’s wrong and misleading.”

Among them was a 40-year-old Sydney woman who was told by her GP in April last year that the test, which measures the level of anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) in the blood, showed her ovarian reserve was dangerously low. Further analysis revealed she was very fertile and well within the normal range, Dr Clarke said.

The Egg Timer Test – which costs about $70 – was pioneered by Adelaide clinic Repromed in 2004, to measure the number of eggs a woman had and predict how many child-bearing years she had left. With thousands of women rushing to take the test, other companies entered the market, but Dr Kelton Tremellen, of Repromed, said they were not always reliable. ”[If it’s not done properly] one person’s blood test can be analyzed and get two vastly different results,” he said. Results could be compromised, for example, if a woman had been on the pill. Dr Clarke added that inaccurate readings also occurred when the blood was stored incorrectly or the hormone not analyzed immediately.

 

Asked if women should have the test, she said: ”I’m not sure of the value of the test. If I want to look at ovarian reserves, I do an antral follicle count with an ultrasound.”

The first reported study on the effectiveness of the Egg Timer Test was damning. The Manchester study, published last year, found significant variations in the results – up to 60 per cent.

Head researcher Dr Oybek Rustamov said the study, which looked at the results of 5000 women between 2008 and 2011, found ”commercial AMH or Egg Timer Tests provide erroneous results”.

Dr Clarke said research was increasingly discrediting and devaluing the test as a means of gauging a woman’s biological clock.

Cheriece Harper, 31, from Penrith, had the Egg Timer Test in 2011 and was left depressed when her doctor told her she had little chance of conceiving. Ms Harper consulted Dr Clarke, became pregnant via a sperm donor and gave birth to Bridie in October last year.

”I’m glad I had the test because it pushed me to make a decision and not delay motherhood, but if women get it done, they need to know it’s measuring egg quantity, not quality.”

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Health benefits of having oats daily

Oats is rich in fiber and a good source to boost your energy. But there are several other reasons why you must include oats in your daily diet. Here are reasons to have oats daily, whether it is for breakfast or as a snack.

Improves immune system
Oats contain a fiber called beta glucans which has been extensively studied over the years. Beta glucans is also present in yeast, barley and different mushrooms. Why is it important? Well, beta glucans is known to fight viruses, bacteria and parasites there by boosting your immune system.

Great for weight loss
Oats and fiber are synonymous with each other. Digestion of oats is a slow process; when you consume oats the body will absorb it steadily. Since the process is a slow one you feel satiated and full for a longer duration. In simple words, oats reduces your hunger pangs and prevents you from indulging in oily and salted food.

Improves digestion
Since oats have a rich source of fiber, it aids digestion. It works for constipation and also works as a natural laxative. While over the counter laxatives may provide quick relief it tends to reduce body weight drastically too, but oats maintains healthy body weight. Consume oats to improve your bowel movements, as it acts like a natural scrub for the intestines.

Oats for diabetics
Oats contains the lowest amount of glycemic index, that is, it has the least effect on blood sugar levels. For diabetics, it is important to increase your intake of oats as it controls the glucose levels in the blood. Oats also absorbs sugar which reduces the dependence of releasing insulin.

Cuts the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes
Oats reduces your dependence on insulin and can improve insulin sensitivity. In a study, there was approximately 40 percent reduction of insulin dosage. Oats are one of the diabetes friendly ingredients you must have.

Reduces high blood pressure
Consuming oats on a daily basis can help in lowering systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure. Under the supervision of a doctor, you may be able to completely stop having medication if you continue to have oats.

Reduce asthma risk
Studies suggests that if you introduce oats based food to a child, the risks of developing asthma is scare. Apparently, in the same study also says that if you include fish in your child’s diet at an early stage, it can prevent rhinitis.

Source: The New Age

Health Benefits of Cardamom

Commonly known in India as “choti elaichi”, cardamom’s scientific name is Elletaria cardamomum. Though it is more popularly used as a herbal spice , which is added in dishes to provide a strong aroma and flavor but in Ayurveda it is considered to be a very useful and effective medicine. In Ayurvedic texts cardamom is referred to as “ela”.

According to traditional wisdom of Ayurveda, cardamom is effective in improving digestion. It helps those suffering from stomach cramps. It is a good stimulant and beneficial for those suffering from flatulence and gas.

Cardamom also helps in cleansing the body as it has detoxifying properties. It is basically a warm spice and known to have originated from India. It improves blood circulation to the lungs and can be helpful in prevention of spasms or convulsions. Hence, cardamom in small quantities is beneficial for those suffering from asthma or bronchitis.

Cardamom enhances appetite and provides relief from acidity in the stomach. It is used in the cure of halitosis. It is beneficial for those suffering from various kinds of respiratory allergies. When you have sore throat, you can try out a little quantity of this medicinal spice.

Those suffering from nausea as well as excessive threat can also try out cardamom. Along with some other medicines, it can be used for treating mouth ulcers. It is known to be a good cure for weakness in general. Some practitioners of Ayurevda also advise its use for treating infection of the urinary tract.

Cardamom is known to be helpful in balancing all three ‘doshas’ in the human body. Hence it is termed as “tridoshic”. A little quantity of cardamom is especially beneficial in balancing “kapha”. It can be used for balancing “vata” and “pitta” also.

The quantity of cardamom which need to be consumed depends on the physiology of a person and the disease which is to be treated or cured from.

Source: August Ayurveda

 

Go nuts! Healthy facts about nuts!

Good things come in small packages and nuts are no exceptions. These nuggets are packed with healthy fats, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Studies have suggested that people who include nuts, including peanuts, in their diet have fewer common health problems such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc. Here are some facts you should know before including nuts in your diet:

Nut varieties

A nut usually have a hard shell and a seed and most fruits we called nuts are not technically nuts nonetheless they provide similar health benefits. They include hazelnuts, chestnuts, and acorns, almonds, Brazil nut, candlenut, cashew, Chilean hazelnut or Gevuina, macadamia,   Malabar chestnut, pecan, mongongo, peanut, pine nut, pistachio and walnut.

How much to eat

According to the American Heart Association, include 4 servings of nuts a week in your diet. A serving is a small handful or 1.5 ounces of whole nuts or 2 tablespoons of nut butter. Avoid salted or oiled ones; instead, eat them raw or dry roasted

Calorie count

Almonds, cashews and pistachios have the lowest calorie count at 160 per ounce while macadamia nuts and pecans have the highest at 200 per ounce.

How to eat

You can have them as snacks whenever you feel hungry or sprinkle them over desserts and salads

Source: Zee News

Cadila launches Mycidac-C : World’s first drug for lung cancer

Cadila Pharmaceuticals has announced the launch of Mycidac-C, an affordable, unique and innovative drug for the treatment of lung cancer.

Mycidac-C is an innovative research product for the patients suffering from Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). The drug has been approved for launch in India by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). It targets Desmocolin-3, a novel target, said the company in a statement.

According to the statement, Mycidac-C is a first in the class active immunotherapy as well as drug targeting Desmocollin-3. It is a breakthrough in the management of squamous cell NSCLC. There has been no significant innovation in management of squamous NSCLC since the introduction of platinum containing doublet in 1983. Besides affordability and other advantages, Mycidac-C has no systemic side effects during the treatment. Mycidac-C is to be used with platinum containing doublet therapy.

As per the World Health Organisation (WHO) report, approximately 1.25 million people are diagnosed with lung cancer every year worldwide. Around 30 per cent of them suffer from squamous NSCLC. Lung cancer kills more people than the three next commonest cancers combined.

Mycidac-C can be administered easily by trained paramedics, thus further reducing the cost of hospitalisation associated with other cancer therapy, according to the statement.

Rajiv I Modi, chairman and managing director, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, said, “It has taken us over a decade, a huge investment and a dedicated research and development team to develop this unique drug. We expect it to be available in the Indian market by December 2013. Thereafter, we will introduce it in other regions like SAARC countries and European markets over the next five years.”

Source: India Medical Times

Baby with swollen head to undergo more surgeries

????????????????????Baby Roona, who had undergone a series of surgeries at a hospital here in few months ago for an oversized head, will undergo follow-up surgeries, doctors at a city hospital said on Saturday.

The child of a daily wage labourer from Tripura, two-year-old Roona Begum is suffering from hydrocephalus, a rare disorder that has caused her head to swell to an unprecedented 94 cm.

She was admitted to Gurgaon’s Fortis Memorial Research Institute here in April this year at the age of 18 months, where she underwent multiple complex procedures to get her head circumference reduced to 58 cm.

“The five surgeries we performed earlier have not only helped the child survive a potentially fatal condition, but also enabled her to attain improved nutritional status and vitals. She has gained weight, is showing better neck control and is even making noises,” surgeon and director of neurosurgery in the hospital, Sandeep Vaishya, said.

Elaborating on the likely follow-up surgery next week, Vaishya said: “This will be the first step in the next round of treatment for the child. We are monitoring her condition and will proceed with the surgery once we get a go-ahead from her attending paediatrician.”

Fortis Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Fortis Healthcare Limited, continues to oversee the treatment of the child.

Source: Times of India

Steroid injections for premature babies could raise ADHD risk

Injections are vital to baby’s survival but could increase likelihood of behavioral and emotional problems

Steroid injections commonly given to pregnant women due to give birth prematurely may raise the risk of the child developing behavioral problems such as ADHD, researchers have found.

The injections, which mimic the hormone cortisol, are essential in helping the baby’s lungs develop and lower the risk of life-threatening breathing problems caused by early birth.

But the steroids, known as glucocorticoids, may also increase the likelihood of the child developing emotional and behavioral disorders, researchers said.

They said the study should not scare women into avoiding the crucial steroid injections, but claimed their findings support a theory that cortisol released naturally due to stress during pregnancy can raise the risk of ADHD.

The scientists, from Imperial College London and the University of Oulu, Finland, compared 37 children whose mothers were given glucocorticoids before going into labor, and compared them against 185 children who were born at the same gestational age but whose mothers did not have steroid treatment.

Their findings, published in the PLOS ONE journal, showed that those whose mothers had been treated performed worse on average in general mental health tests at ages eight and 16, and were more likely to have ADHD symptoms.

The researchers said the benefits of the steroids far outweigh the potential harms, and that only a small proportion of children with treated mothers had been affected.

But they said their study could shed light on previous research showing that stress during pregnancy can harm mental development in the child.

The findings support the idea that cortisol, a hormone produced naturally in response to stress, causes this link because it is extremely similar to glucocorticoids, they explained.

Prof Alina Rodriguez, senior author of the study, said: “There are a lot of studies that have found links between stress in pregnancy and effects on children’s mental health, especially ADHD, and this might be related to cortisol.

“Synthetic glucocorticoids mimic the biological reaction when the mother is stressed, so we wanted to see if babies who were exposed to this treatment are affected similarly in terms of mental health outcomes.”

Source: Telegraph

New procedure allows jewelry to be implanted in the eye

A new procedure is allowing one New York woman to have a piece of platinum jewelry implanted in her eye, according to My Fox New York.

“It’s going to be a conversation maker,” Lucy Luckayanko, who received her eye implantation at Park Avenue Laser Vision in New York City, told My Fox New York. “I will be able to tell people. It will be unique. It will be sort of my unique factor.”

Dr. Emil Chynn, the medical director of Park Avenue Laser Vision, claims that the procedure is relatively safe.

“It’s a very thin piece of platinum that’s designed for insertion on the top of the eye. It’s not in the eye, so there’s no risk of blindness or anything at all,” Chynn told My Fox New York. “She could have a little bit of local bleeding. That could go away in a couple days or couple weeks. She could have an infection, but we’ll prevent that with antibiotics.”

Eye jewelry is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) is warning consumers about the dangers of the procedure.

In a statement to My Fox New York, the AAO said there isn’t “sufficient evidence to support the safety or therapeutic value of this procedure.” They urged consumers to “avoid placing in the eye any foreign body or material that is not approved by the FDA.”

Luckayanko said the reactions to her new eye jewelry have been mixed – with some of her friends saying she is crazy and others claiming it looks “super cool.”

Source: Fox News

Confusing Laws Lead to Unsafe Abortions in Uganda

Confusing abortion laws and reproductive health policies in Uganda have forced women to turn to unsafe abortions and increased the number of unplanned pregnancies in the country, according to a new report, The Stakes Are High: The Tragic Impact of Unsafe Abortion and Inadequate Access to Contraception in Uganda, from the Center for Reproductive Rights, the International Women’s Human Rights Clinic and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law.

The report, released today, documents personal stories of women impacted by the widespread and false impression that abortion is illegal in all circumstances in Uganda. In fact the country’s laws permit abortion for women not only to save a woman’s life but also on mental and physical health grounds.

“The perceived illegality of abortion services in Uganda has led to stigma, fear and secrecy—driving far too many women to desperate measures to end a pregnancy,” said Evelyne Opondo, regional director for Africa at the Center for Reproductive Rights.

“Leaders in Uganda must not only clarify the abortion laws, but also broaden access to information among health care professionals and the public at large about reproductive health care, including access to family planning and safe abortion services.”

Each year an estimated 297,000 induced abortions occur in Uganda, with nearly 85,000 women receiving treatment for complications from unsafe abortion. About 65,000 women experience complications resulting from unsafe abortion but do not receive any treatment. Unsafe abortion is one of the most easily preventable causes of maternal mortality, yet more than a quarter of maternal deaths in the country occur because of unsafe abortion, according to an estimate by the Ministry of Health in Uganda.

Many of these deaths are in large part because of confusion and ignorance of reproductive health laws, as women are often discouraged from accessing legal reproductive health services.

“Studies have shown that women’s ability to exercise reproductive autonomy, including access to effective contraception and safe abortion services, leads to better health for women,” said Dr. Charles Kiggundu, Vice President, Association of Obstetrics and Gynecologists of Uganda.

“It is tragic that women in Uganda continue to lose their lives as a consequence of their ability to become pregnant.”

Personal interviews in the report highlight how women are discriminated against when seeking modern contraception or legal abortion services.

Source: Reproductive Rights

 

Rural Ethiopians Spread Good Health Habits Over Coffee

The front porch is the setting for coffee ceremonies where women of Dosha discuss new health practices for the neighborhood (VOA/Joana Mantey)

Thousands of women in Ethiopia have joined a Health Development Army to turn the time-honored cultural practice of drinking coffee together into an opportunity to spread the word about better health practices in their rural communities. The army is made up of small groups of volunteers who gather in traditional coffee ceremonies to encourage behavior change among women and their neighborhoods.

Women in villages throughout Oromia, the largest and most heavily populated of Ethiopia’s rural provinces, gather and talk over several rounds of coffee served in tiny ceramic cups. The beverage is brewed with locally-grown and unprocessed coffee beans roasted and ground by a local woman dressed in traditional Ethiopian attire. The finished product is brewed over a small lemon grass fire and served to invited guests. They take their coffee with sugar, but no milk.

Gossip gives way to talk about hygeine

This long-standing social tradition and source of daily gossip – in a country that claims to be the birthplace of coffee – has become the educational platform used by the local health volunteers of the Health Development Army. They are trained by the government’s vast network of health extension workers to bring behavior change at the community level and whip up support for government health programs.

Datu Badadha, leader of a women’s group that meets for coffee in the village of Dosha, said these educational gatherings allow married women to get together with young women or men in the community for discussions.

The leader of the Health Development Army volunteers in the village of Dosha is Datu Badadha. (VOA/Joana Mantey)Pathfinder International, an international non-profit, provides technical, financial and managerial support to the Ethiopian government’s health programs.

“The Women Development Army are women that have implemented the health extension program of government very well so that others in their communities can see what they are benefitting out of this health extension program so that they can adapt or adopt what this Women Development Army are doing,” said Tariku Nigatu, who works with Pathfinder International in Ethiopia.

Latrines, vaccines and maternity

“In some households, people would not be using latrines and this Women Development Army member would encourage households to dig latrines and use it,” Nigatu continued. “They encourage women to take their children to vaccination. When there are pregnant women they also refer them to seek maternity care from health extension workers and from health centers.”

Tariku added that members of the army are able to interact freely with people in the community because they have a defined physical structure – a mud house with a living room, bedroom and store with separate accommodations for the kitchen, latrine and livestock. A house that fulfills the new requirements is called a model household and its inhabitants can supervise the implementation of health programs in five other homes.

Mesfin Nigussie of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Integrated Family Health Program said, “To be a model household they need to have a latrine, they have to use family planning and their children under one year should be fully immunized. They should have a separate house for living, cooking as well as for cattle. They should also have clean surroundings and eat balanced diets.”

Homes that meet these requirements are awarded certificates. Mesfin said 64 percent of of those in the Oromia region now live in model households, a marked departure from the single huts which used to serve both as sleeping quarters and kitchens.

He said the work of the Health Development Army is also helping to sustain behavior change in communities. Mesfin said the role played by members of the army in social mobilization is as well helping health extension workers to concentrate on clinical duties at the health posts.

Source: Voice of America