February 2010

World first: woman gives birth to two healthy babies in separate pregnancies after ovarian transplant

For the first time, a woman has given birth to two children after her fertility was restored using transplants of ovarian tissue that had been removed and frozen during her cancer treatment and then restored once she was cured. Following her ovarian transplant, Mrs Stinne Holm Bergholdt gave birth to a girl in February 2007 […]

Risk of stillbirth is four times higher after IVF/ICSI compared to pregnancies achieved spontaneously or after non-IVF fertility treatment

Women who become pregnant with a single foetus after in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) have an increased risk of a stillbirth, according to new research out today (Wednesday). The study of over 20,000 singleton pregnancies, published in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction [1], found a four-fold increased risk of […]

Inadequate access to opioid-based pain relief is a human rights issue for cancer patients

Many cancer patients in Europe are being denied access to adequate pain relief because of over-zealous regulations restricting the availability and accessibility of opioid-based drugs such as morphine. Authors of the Europe-wide study say that restricting access to pain-killing drugs in this way is a breach of patients’ human rights, and they conclude that “there […]

Don’t worry, be happy! Positive emotions protect against heart disease

People who are usually happy, enthusiastic and content are less likely to develop heart disease than those who tend not to be happy, according to a major new study published today (Thursday 18 February). The authors believe that the study, published in the Europe’s leading cardiology journal, the European Heart Journal [1], is the first […]