Groundbreaking Female Fertility Test Measuring Biological Clocks Launches In Illinois

Fertility Centers of Illinois S.C. has joined forces with Repromedix Corp, the nation's leading diagnostic laboratory for fertility testing, to be the first in Chicago to offer the PlanAhead™ test, a cutting edge test measuring a woman's biological clock. PlanAhead is an innovative blood test that provides a much more convenient, accurate and less costly method of assessing a woman's supply of eggs, by combining several factors such as the measurement of ovary-related hormones AMH, Inhibin B, and FSH.

The window of opportunity for a woman to conceive naturally depends upon an adequate supply of eggs, which invariably decline with age making it a critical factor in the fertility process. PlanAhead enables women to compare their own supply of eggs with the normal expected range for women of their age and provides valuable directional information by helping them make more informed decisions about when to have a child.


"PlanAhead represents an extraordinary advance in fertility diagnostics compared to what has previously been available to the general population," explains Dr Benjamin Leader, Chief Medical Officer of Repromedix. "Many fertility experts have long viewed the gold standard of egg supply measurement to be the number of eggs obtained through egg retrieval; an expensive procedure usually reserved for specialty fertility clinics involving hormone injections and minimally invasive procedures. PlanAhead offers similar information to the general public via a simple blood test," he adds.


Fertility Centers of Illinois was selected by PlanAhead test co-developer Repromedix Corp., to be one of a select number of In Vitro Fertilization centers around the country to debut the test. Dr. Kevin Lederer, reproductive endocrinologist with Fertility Centers of Illinois comments that they are extremely pleased to be able to add this pioneer testing to their existing cutting edge, reproductive technologies. "Our mission is to always provide patients with the most advanced testing and treatment options available," he says.


The cost of the PlanAhead is $350 and can be purchased online at www.planaheadtest/us or at Fertility Centers of Illinois, where patients can also have their blood drawn. Blood samples will be sent to Repromedix, whose lab will perform the advanced testing and submits the report and recommendations to the patient's physician.


Repromedix will expand the PlanAhead launch to major markets across the United States throughout 2008. For more information visit: www.planaheadtest/us.


About Fertility Centers of Illinois


Fertility Centers of Illinois, S.C., is one of the nation's leading infertility treatment practices, providing advanced reproductive endocrinology services in the Chicago area for over 30 years. FCI has more babies born than the next ten centers combined with high success rates that are recognized throughout the nation. In addition to a team of nationally recognized reproductive physicians who stay current on the latest technology and procedures, FCI patients have access to many other unique support services, such as professional counseling from a licensed, Ph.D. clinical psychologist, patient advocates and innovative financial options. FCI is part of IntegraMed, the nation's largest and most reputable network of fertility centers and has multiple offices conveniently located throughout the Chicago area. For more information visit fcionline


About Repromedix


Repromedix is the leading national diagnostic laboratory for fertility testing and offers a multifaceted approach to clinical fertility testing that encompasses many medical disciplines including endocrinology, immunology and genetics. Repromedix offers the most comprehensive suite of advanced diagnostic tests that provide valuable information regarding the complex problems of reproductive failure. Since its inception in 1993, the company has assisted more than 45,000 patients by performing over 100,000 diagnostic tests for recurrent pregnancy loss, premature ovarian failure, male infertility, and unexplained infertility. Repromedix is a portfolio company of Brook Venture Partners, Ironwood Capital Management, and Brooke Private Equity Advisors.

Repromedix

White House To Release Report Highlighting Nonembryonic Stem Cell Research Progress

The White House Domestic Policy Council on Wednesday is scheduled to release a report highlighting the progress and benefits of nonembryonic stem cell research, including a study published in the Jan. 7 online edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology that found stem cells derived from human amniotic fluid appear to offer many of the same benefits of embryonic stem cells, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the Journal, White House officials confirmed that they have been drafting a possible executive order related to the stem cell research. White House spokesperson Tony Fratto declined to give details about the content and potential timing of the order but said, "[W]e are clearly working on ways we can direct whatever tools and funding we can" for stem cell research that does not involve harming human embryos. According to the Journal, some stem cell research supporters said the executive order would endorse federal funding for research of nonembryonic stem cells and would not reverse restrictions President Bush placed on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research in 2001 (Lueck, Wall Street Journal, 1/10). Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is allowed only for research using embryonic stem cell lines created on or before Aug. 9, 2001, under a policy announced by Bush on that date (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 1/9).

Effect on Legislation
Some stem cell research supporters also said an executive order might help the Bush administration respond to criticism of an expected veto of a pending bill (HR 3, S 5) that would expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, the Journal reports (Wall Street Journal, 1/10). The legislation -- called the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 -- is identical to a measure (HR 810) Bush vetoed in July 2006 that would have expanded stem cell lines that are eligible for federal funding and allowed funding for research using stem cells derived from embryos originally created for fertility treatments and willingly donated by patients (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 1/9). "We are exploring all the alternative science that maybe will make this question moot so we as a society do not have to deal with this moral grudge match," Fratto said. Supporters of the legislation have "dismissed the strategy as a distraction" and are "frustrated" that opponents, including Bush, "have seized" on the amniotic stem cell study "to bolster claims" that additional embryonic stem cell research is unnecessary, the Journal reports (Wall Street Journal, 1/10). Anthony Atala, senior author of the study and director of the Wake Forest University Institute for Regenerative Medicine, on Tuesday in a letter to Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Michael Castle (D-Del.), co-sponsors of the legislation, said that it is "essential that NIH-funded researchers are able to fully pursue embryonic stem cell research as a complement to research into other forms of stem cells" (Mulkern, Denver Post, 1/10). Atala wrote, "Some may be interpreting my research as a substitute for the need to pursue other forms of regenerative medicine therapies, such as those involving embryonic stem cells," adding, "I disagree with that assertion" (Kellman, AP/Winston-Salem Journal, 1/9). Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) on Tuesday said the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act lacks one vote in the Senate before having a veto-proof majority, CongressDaily reports. "We have 66 (votes) with Sen. [Tim] Johnson (D-S.D.)," Harkin said. Johnson, who had suffered a brain hemorrhage and underwent brain surgery last month, is expected to undergo several months of recovery, CongressDaily reports. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has scheduled the vote for February or March (CongressDaily, 1/9). The House is scheduled to vote on the legislation on Thursday (Denver Post, 1/10).

Vatican Welcomes Amniotic Stem Cell Study
The Roman Catholic Church on Tuesday applauded the study by Atala and colleagues, calling it a breakthrough in medical research that could help medical research without conflicting with the church's beliefs, Reuters reports. Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, in an interview with the Italian daily newspaper La Stampa on Monday, said the study is "a very significant and ethically admissible advance." In a Vatican Radio interview on Tuesday, Barragan said, "I am very glad to see this progress in the field of science for the good of humankind." He also said that the Vatican does not oppose all stem cell research. "The [c]hurch is not obscurantist and is always ready to welcome real scientific progress that neither threatens nor manipulates the sources of life" (Reuters, 1/9).














"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

Vegans Less Likely To Have Twins Than Women Who Eat Animal Products

According to new research, women who consume animal products, especially dairy, are five times as likely to have twins than vegan women - women who consume no animal products at all. Dr. Gary Steinman, Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center in New Hyde Park, NY, said the consumption of dairy products, especially, raised a woman's chances of having twins.


You can read about this study in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, May 20 Issue.


Scientists found that Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF) is 13% lower in vegan women, when compared to women who consume dairy products. IGF is a protein, released from the liver in response to growth hormone. It circulates in the blood and finds its way into the animal's milk. Sensitivity of the ovaries to follicle-stimulating hormone is increased with the presence of IGF - this increases ovulation.


IGF, according to some studies, helps embryos survive during the early stages of development.


In the USA the percentage of women who have given birth to twins has steadily increased since 1975. Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) started around 1975. Also, as women have babies later in life, the chances of having twins also goes up. Another factor has been the introduction of growth-hormone treatment of cows, which started in the 1990s. Growth-hormone treatment of cows makes them produce more milk and beef.


Dr. Steinman compared the twinning rates of three types of women:


-- Vegans (no animal products at all)

-- Vegetarians who consumed dairy products

-- Women who were omnivores and consumed dairy


He found that vegan women's chances of having twins were one fifth of those who consumed dairy.


Twinning rates among women around the world parallels IGF levels. African American women have much higher IGF rates than most other groups, and also the highest twinning rates. Asian women have the lowest IGF levels, and also the lowest twinning rates. Apart from diet, IGF production is genetically linked.


Dr. Steinman said that for the first time, this study shows that the chances of having twins are influences by both nurture and nature. Nature, because it depends on what group you are - African American, Asian, European, etc. Nurture, because your dairy consumption can have an influence. A woman's chances of having twins are influenced by her levels of insulin-like growth factor.


In this text, 'nurture' means the same has 'environment' or 'environmental'.


As multiple births are associated with higher incidences of premature births, congenital defects and pregnancy-induced hypertension, Dr. Steinman suggest woman wanting to get pregnant might consider replacing dairy products with other protein sources - especially in countries where growth hormone administration to cattle is allowed.

New Uses For PGD Increasingly Raising Ethical Questions, Opinion Piece Says

The expanding use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, which historically has been used to test embryos for fatal childhood diseases, is an increasingly "slippery slope" because it is being used to screen for "milder disease, the absence of useful tissue or just the wrong sex," William Saletan, science and technology reporter for Slate online magazine, writes in a Washington Post opinion piece. According to Saletan, PGD increasingly is being used to predict "[p]robability and life expectancy" of a child and to screen for "less serious diseases," such as arthritis. He notes that according to a new survey of U.S. fertility clinics scheduled for release this week by the Genetics and Public Policy Center, 28% of clinics offering PGD have used it to target genes whose associated diseases, such as Alzheimer's, do not appear until adulthood. "If PGD were evil, it would be easy to head off such abuse by banning it," Saletan writes. However, PGD "prevents hellish diseases," he says, adding, "In those cases, you have to say yes. And once you start saying yes, it's hard to say no" (Saletan, Washington Post, 9/17).


"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

Grade 8 Girls To Be Offered Cervical Cancer Vaccine, Gardasil - Ontario, Canada

Ontario is to offer Gardasil, a vaccine to protect against cervical cancer, to all Grade 8 girls, even though the Canadian Medical Association Journal indicated that it is perhaps too early to offer the vaccine on a universal basis. The program will be free and voluntary and will be offered to approximately 84,000 girls and young women. The vaccine will be offered in schools.


The program will cost Ontario CAN$117 million over three years.


Sandra Pupatello, Minister for Women's Issues, Ontario, said that all Grade 8 girls will get the vaccine if they so choose by the end of this school year. Pupatello added "There has never been an issue around women's health that has had this level of unanimity. It wasn't a difficult decision."


Public health nurses will administer Gardasil. Parents will be given consent forms, plus information, well before the vaccines are offered. Nova Scotia started offering Gardasil to girls in July, 2007.


Older females will not get the vaccine free-of-charge. The full course, involving three injections over six months, costs around CAN$600.


What is cervical cancer?


It is cancer of the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina. Certain types of HPV (human papillomavirus) cause abnormal cells to develop in the lining of the cervix. If these abnormal cells are not treated early enough they may become pre-cancers, and eventually cancer. HPV does not go away on its own.


Why Gardasil?


Gardasil helps protect a woman against diseases caused by HPV Types 16 & 18. These two types are responsible for 70% of all cervical cancer cases. Gardasil also protects women against HPV Types 6 & 11, the cause of 90% of genital warts.


Gardasil does not protect everyone, it does not prevent all cervical cancer types. It is important for women who have received Gardasil to continue having regular cancer screenings.


According to the Gardasil web site, the three-injection six month course may cause swilling, itching, redness at injection site, raised temperature, nausea and dizziness.


How does one become infected with HPV?


-- Anyone who has sexual activity with a person infected with HPV can become infected. An infected person may have no symptoms and not know he/she could be it on. Sexual activity does not exclusively involve sexual intercourse.


-- HPV infection affects both men and women.


-- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 20 million people in the USA were infected with HPV in 2005. The CDC adds that the only fully-guaranteed way of never becoming infected with HPV is to avoid any sexual activity.


-- Gardasil Web Site

-- Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Ontario





View drug information on Gardasil.