Birth Defects are One-Third more Likely in Babies Conceived with IVF, According to Studies

Posted on April 30, 2012 by andreas m

By: J. D. Heyes
Source: NaturalNews.com

Technology is a wonderful thing in most cases, but sometimes doing things the old-fashioned way is not only better, it’s safer too.

To wit, a new study found that babies conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) – when a mother’s egg is fertilized outside her body then transplanted to her womb – are more at risk for birth defects.

According to a review of scores of studies by Zhibin Hu at Nanjing Medical University in China, babies conceived that way, or by using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) – in which a single sperm is injected directly into the egg – are one-third more likely, or 37 percent, to be born with problems or malformations.

Researchers, whose findings were published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, could not find a logical reason why technology seemed to cause the additional incidents of birth defects, or even if technology was responsible.

Still, in examining 46 separate bodies of research on IVF, which has been available to women for more than 30 years and which has often been the subject of research, found that in terms of having “normal” babies, replacing technology with the natural child-bearing process produces more kids with more physical and mental problems and limitations.

“Children conceived by IVF and/or ICSI are at significantly increased risk for birth defects, and there is no risk difference between children conceived by IVF and/or ICSI,” the team wrote, in examining data on more than 124,000 children born through artificial insemination.

That compares with three in 100 children in the U.S. who are born with serious birth defects such as a malformed limb or organ, according to the U.S.Centers for Disease Control (CDC),Reuters reported.

Technology seems to be responsible… but why?

Crunching the numbers, a 37-percent increase would increase the U.S. rate to four in 100 children born with some sort of defect.

“(The report) confirms what most people accepted anyway, that, yes, there is an increased risk in congenital abnormality associated with assisted reproductive technology,” William Buckett, a professor at McGill University who was not involved with Hu’s research team, said.

The authors of the study said birth defects among IVF/ICSI-conceived children involved a range of bodily functions and systems, including musculoskeletal malformations, genitals, and the digestive and neurological systems.

That said, the research team could not say why technology seemed to be linked to the birth defects.

One theory is that it’s possible people who have trouble conceiving naturally and try fertility treatments may somehow be at increased risk for having children with birth defects anyway.

Another school of thought is that rough handling of the embryos during the actual process of fertilization, or the drugs involved in fertility treatments – or both – may be at fault.

Buckett said another theory is that it only appears as though birth defects occur more frequently in children conceived outside the womb because they are followed more closely by medical personnel and researchers.

“Couples who have had babies born as a result of IVF are followed up more closely, and therefore subtle abnormalities may be detected that otherwise might not have been detected,” he said.

Is there anything parents who use IVF can do to lower the risk of having a child with a birth defect?

Hu says no, but that’s because more studies are needed.

“It is really too early to find out ways to reduce the risk, because the reasons accounting for the risk are largely unknown,” he told Reuters in an email.

Higher risk of ovarian cancer

Parents desperate for children and who have no other way to conceive may find the risk acceptable.

But there are other concerns as well regarding IVF: the increased likelihood of women who conceive in that manner developing ovarian cancer.

A research team from the Netherlands Cancer Institute studied data from women who had received at least one form of fertility treatment, and 6,000 women who had not undergone IVF treatment. Of 61 women who developed ovarian malignancies, 31 had borderline ovarian cancer and 30 had invasive cancer.

Some scientists dismissed those figures as statistically insignificant. Nevertheless, the “data clearly show that ovarian stimulation for IVF is associated with an increased risk of borderline ovarian tumors and this risk remains elevated up to more than 15 years after the first cycle of treatment,” said lead researcher Flora van Leeuwen.

The risks go even higher when artificial insemination leads to multiple babies

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Thanks to BPA and other chemicals the New Age of Puberty for Girls is 10

Posted on April 20, 2012 by andreas m

By: Tony Isaacs
Source: NaturalNews.com

Girls as young as 7 years old are now beginning to develop breasts and undergo other body changes that their mothers had not experienced until years later. The prime culprit for this new phenomena is bisphenol A, better known as simply BPA.

BPA is a colorless solid chemical compound which has two phenol chemical groups and is widely used to make polycarbonate polymers and epoxy resins used to make plastics. Prolonged storage as well as high heat cause BPA to leech out. When BPA is leeched into the human body, it mimics estrogen and can offset the delicate hormonal balance in the developing child.

Too profitable to fail?

So widespread has BPA become that it is now found in the vast majority of plastics used commercially today. Most containers and plastic bags contain the compound and it is even found in dollar bills and toilet paper. Most bottled water, which is often subjected to extreme temperatures, has an increased concentration of BPA in the water content. A majority of canned products contain BPA, used as lining for the insides of cans. Microwavable food often comes in containers or bags containing BPA and is especially susceptible to leeching due to high temperatures.

As Natural News reported in April, 2010, the average age that girls begin puberty currently stands at around ten years – a drop of more than a year in a single generation. Notably, a century ago the average age for the onset of puberty in girls was 16. Early onset of puberty in girls can cause a number of problems later in life due to hormonal imbalance, including increased risk of breast cancer. Studies have shown that risk of breast cancer is reduced by7 percent for every year the onset of puberty is delayed.

Natural News also reported in 2010 that Canada was the first country in the world to declare bisphenol A (BPA) to be a toxic substance that poses risks to human health and the environment. However, annual BPA sales have been estimated at $8 Billion and as history has shown us time and again, it is unlikely that the United States will take action anytime soon against such a highly profitable item. In fact, just this past week Natural News reported that -right on cue – the FDA announced that it would not ban BPA due to lack of evidence of harm.

Other early puberty culprits

While BPA has been identified as a major cause of the early onset of puberty in young girls, it is far from the only culprit. Another class of compounds known as phthalates have been similarly found to disrupt hormone balance. Phthalates are a class of chemicals used as softeners, or plasticizers, in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) vinyl products, including children’s toys, decorating and building products, blood bags and solvents. Phthalates are also found in cosmetics, personal care products, wood finishes and insecticides.

Another likely culprit in early puberty onset is the growth hormones which are found in abundance in meat and dairy products. It is likely the growth hormones which are fed to fatten cows, chickens and other food animalsto increase dairy production are behind much of the links which studies have observed between meat and dairy consumption and the early onset of puberty in girls.

Many believe that soy foods and products also play a role in hormonal imbalance problems. Soy is heavily promoted as a health food, but is often highly genetically modified. In addition, soy contains large amounts of estrogen and has been found to affect hormone balance.

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Sexual Health – Malfunction in Erection

Posted on September 19, 2011 by admin

Sexual health – malfunction in erection

This question is from a 49 year old man who says he has experienced malfunction with his erection and it causes an unstable or difficult relationship with his wife. It feels like everything stops inside me from being alive. I am basically going through a death experience.

This is very understandable because you are having a well functioning sexual organ it is very important not just for sexual relationships but also for having a health body. The sexual organs are not just there for reproduction to create children or for having sexual pleasure but it is also necessary to regenerate the DNA in our body and reproductive organs produce… allow the genes to be healthy and new cells to be formed properly in the body, so this is a very good question and it requires perhaps a longer answer.

I have discussed many reasons why the reproductive system can malfunction in my book “TIMELESS SECRETS OF HEALTH AND REJUVENATION“, everything that disturbs the digestive process and reduces the nutrient distribution to such important organs such as the prostate and the testes, that is a factor to consider and that implies also that the liver bile ducts are not clean, you are obviously not digesting your food well because there is a blockage in the bile ducts which do not allow enough bile to be secreted to digest your food properly and to nourish these important reproductive organs.

So cleaning out the liver is very important and also cleaning out the kidneys, because, kidney congestion where stones or crystals are accumulating in the kidneys can easily impact the performance, the ability to have an erection in the penis and so I would strongly recommend clean out the liver, clean out the kidneys and clean out the colon. If you have a large abdomen that can easily put pressure on the reproductive system as well and lead to malfunctioning. And so, I recommend that if you change your diet, lifestyle, clean out these important organs, you should have a very good chance to get the functions in your reproductive system back to normal. Especially at your age there is no reason, there is no other reason why you should not have a proper sexual performance level.

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Disorders of the Reproductive System

Posted on September 15, 2011 by admin

By Andreas Moritz

Female and male reproductive systems both depend largely on smooth functioning of the liver. Gallstones in the liver obstruct the movement of bile through the bile ducts, which impairs digestion and distorts the structural framework of liver lobules. This diminishes the liver’s production of serum albumin. Serum albumin is the most common and abundant protein in the blood responsible for maintaining plasma osmotic pressure at its normal level of 25mmHg, and clotting factors, essential for coagulation of blood. Insufficient osmotic pressure cuts down the supply of nutrients to the cells, including those of the reproductive organs. This may lead to reduced lymph drainage and, subsequently, to fluid retention and edema, as well as retention of metabolic waste and gradual impairment of sexual functions.

Most diseases of the reproductive system result from improper lymph drainage. The thoracic duct (see Disorders of the Circulatory System) drains lymph fluid from all organs of the digestive system, including the liver, spleen, pancreas, stomach and intestines. This large duct often becomes severely congested when gallstones in the liver lead to disturbed digestion and absorption of food. It is obvious, yet hardly ever recognized, that congestion in the thoracic duct affects the organs of the reproductive system; they, too, need to empty their lymphatic waste products into the thoracic duct.

Impaired lymphatic drainage from the female pelvic area of the body is responsible for suppressed immunity, menstrual problems, PMT, menopausal symptoms, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), cervicitis, all uterine diseases, vulvar dystrophies with growth of fibrous tissue, ovarian cysts and tumors, cell destruction, hormone deficiencies, low libido, infertility, and genetic mutations of cells leading to cancer. Thoracic blockage may also lead to lymph congestion in the left breast, leaving deposits of noxious substances that can cause inflammation, lump formation and even tumors. If the right lymphatic duct, which drains lymph from the right half of the thorax, head, neck and right arm, becomes congested, toxins are retained in the right breast, leading to similar problems there.

A continuous restriction of lymph drainage from the male pelvic area causes benign and malignant prostate enlargement, and inflammation of the testes, penis and urethra. Impotence is a likely consequence of this development. The consistent increase of gallstones in the liver, a common factor among middle-aged men in affluent societies, is one of the major reasons for lymph blockage in this vital part of the body. Venereal diseases occur when there is a high level of toxicity in the exposed area due to lymph blockage, prior to microbial infection. The collapsing capacity of the lymphatic system to repel invading organisms causes most reproductive and sexual disorders.

By removing all gallstones from the liver and taking recourse to a healthy diet and lifestyle, lymphatic activity can return to normal. The reproductive tissue receives improved nourishment and becomes more resistant. Infections subside; cysts, fibrous tissue and tumors are broken down and removed; sexual functions are restored.