|
|
|
CONSEGRITY - Beyond Medical Management
Dr. Mary Lynch was a traditionally-trained orthopedist specializing in sports medicine for 15 years. After her partner was killed in a plane crash 15 years ago, she resolved to follow heart and immerse herself in the reasons why what she had been...
Introduction to Flower Essences
This article is offered for free use in your ezine, print publication or on your web site, so long as the author resource box at the end is included, with hyperlinks. Notification of publication would be appreciated. Flower Essences “The simple...
Therapuetic Bath That Relieves Pain, Detoxify, and Relax Your Body
Over the past few months, I have been investigating, experimenting and using a new exciting substance that is relatively new to the US and Canada but has been tested, used, and supplied in Europe for centuries for all sorts of ailments and to...
Wealth and Health - 8 Ways to a Longer Life
Copyright 2005 Tania French
I'm going to talk to you about a topic that, when closely looked
at, actually has a lot to do with living a prosperous, wealthy
life.
Since this is the time of year when many of us eat more and feel
guilty...
What do you need to know about rheumatoid arthritis
What is meant by Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Rheumatoid Arthritis is a very commonly found form of arthritis. It is a disease that gets worsened over a period of time and leads to painful swelling and permanent damage in the joints of the body...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Factors That Will Affect Sperm Health
The Sperm DNA Integrity assay (SDIA) like the Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay (SCSA) is a tool for measuring clinically important properties of sperm nuclear chromatin integrity. Chromatin is that portion of the cell nucleus which contains the entire DNA of the nucleus in animal or plant cells.
The results correlate well with the potential of sperm from a given male to produce embryos that would be sufficiently “competent to produce a live birth. The SDIA utilizes the metachromatic features of acridine orange (AO), a DNA probe, and the principles of flow cytometry (FCM).
SDIA data are not well correlated with classical sperm quality parameters and have been solidly shown to predict
sub/infertility and poor reproductive performance. The SDIA measures DNA damage. The degree of abnormalities in the genetic material of the sperm is expressed numerically as the DNA Fragmentation Index (DFI). DNA damage may be present in sperm from both fertile and infertile men. Therefore, this sperm DNA damage analysis may reveal a hidden abnormality of sperm DNA in infertile men classified as unexplained based on apparently normal standard sperm parameters.
Infertile men with abnormal sperm characteristics exhibit increased levels of DNA damage in their sperm. Sperm from infertile men with normal-appearing sperm may have DNA damage to a degree comparable to that of infertile men with abnormal-appearing
sperm. The data suggests that an abnormal SDI assay is more likely to occur in cases of abnormal semen parameters.
Cancer treatments are well known to adversely affect male fertility. Reduction of sperm output arises from the cytotoxic effects of chemo-or radiotherapy upon the spermatogenic epithelium.
Optimal sperm chromatin packaging seems necessary for full expression of the male fertility potential. SDI assays emerge as predictors of the probability to conceive and carry the pregnancy to viability.
The improvement seen in sperm motility after treatment is not associated with a similar improvement in sperm DNA integrity (SDIA assay results). These data suggest that sperm processing techniques will not minimize sperm DNA damage and the potential transmission of genetic mutations in assisted reproductive cycles.
It is important to add that most current data available on the significance of abnormal SDIA results in infertile couples seeking treatment has emanated from non-IVF pregnancies.
Preliminary data suggests the gollowing:
• The viable (>12 weeks) IVF pregnancy rate (and thus presumably also the birth rate) could be as much as 2 times lower in women under 33yrs of age, whose husbands have abnormal SDI assays ( with a DFI of <30%). Results become progressively worse with advancing maternal age such that at 35 yrs+, the viable pregnancy rate could be as much as 3-4 times lower.
• Although it is possible for abnormal SDIA results to sometimes spontaneously revert back to normal, this probably occurs quite infrequently.
• Although abnormal SDIA results are detected in men with apparently normal semen analyses, abnormal results are more commonly seen in cases of men who have abnormal sperm parameters (abnormal sperm count, motility and/or morphology)
• There is some suggestion that the use of antioxidant therapy ( Pycnogenol 200mg daily, L-Carnitine 3 grams per day, acetyl carnitine
500mg per day, Vitamin C 1,000mg per day, Vitamin E 800IU per day and acupuncture and certain herbal medicines) taken for several months, can causes the SDI assay to revert to normal in many cases.
There is some suggestion that men who have varicoceles ( a collection of distended veins in the scrotum) associated with an abnormal SDI assay may experience a reversion of the SDI assay back to normal, 3-6 months following surgical or radiological
ablation of the varicocele. Of course acupuncture and herbal medicine will enhance and stimulate blood flow to the testicles facilitating a more rapid recovery with greater possibility of healthy sperm production after a varicocelectomy.
In summary, an abnormal SDI assay augers poorly for the outcome of fertility treatment in general and IVF/ICSI in specific.
In such cases, the fertilization rate and pregnancy rates are reduced and the chance of early pregnancy loss appears to be increased significantly. An abnormal SDIA result does not totally preclude a successful pregnancy.
The prognosis worsens progressively as the age of the egg provider advances beyond 33 yrs. Although abnormal SDIA results rarely revert to normal spontaneously this can and does happen on occasion.
Selective surgical ligation of a varicocele and medical anti-oxidant treatment may be effective in restoring the SDIA to normal. Antioxidant properties are to be found in Vitamins C and E and herbal medicine specific to this situation.
It is quite likely that the SDIA or the SCSA will in time become regarded as required baseline tests (to be performed, regardless of their basic traditional semen analysis parameters (count, motility and sperm morphology) in all cases of recurrent pregnancy loss and IVF where the sperm provider has not previously participated in a pregnancy that has proceeded beyond the 12th week (the traditional point of likely viability).
It should be noted that when the typical sperm analysis reveals normal count, morphology and motility this does not mean that sperm DNA fragmentation is not manifest. In other words, unless the SDIA test is specifically run, fragmentation issues will not be revealed. This type of case then may be labeled ‘idiopathic' infertility.
It is our opinion based on clinical experience that ideally, both the man and the women should be treated even if there is no apparent male factor evident. The reason for this is that stress has been shown to reduce sperm count. Going through the tortuous trial of trying to conceive leaves many couples extremely stressed out. So, which at the time of sperm analysis
everything appears normal, over time, due to the stress inherent with the situation, the sperm quantity may in fact be effected.
Therefore, including acupuncture, herbal medicine and the proper supplements can be seen as either reactive (if pathology is evident) or proactive (if pathology is not evident). It is our opinion that proactive behavior often obviates the need to be reactive. Prevention is key.
About the Author
Dr. Mike Berkley has been treating male factor fertility disorders since 1996 with amazing results. He works exclusively in the area of reproductive medicine and enjoys working in conjunction with some of New York’s most prestigious reproductive endocrinologists. Sign up for his free newsletter at www.BerkleyCenter.com
|
|
|
|
|
| National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health |
| Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine offers access to health information for consumer, patient, and physicians ... |
| www.nlm.nih.gov |
|
| Health and Medical Information produced by doctors - MedicineNet.com |
| Doctor-produced health and medical information written for you to make informed decisions about your health concerns. |
| www.medicinenet.com |
|
| Medicine in the Yahoo! Directory |
| Collection of sites for health professionals, with sections on specific disciplines, organizations, continuing education, conferences, publications, ... |
| dir.yahoo.com |
|
| MedlinePlus Health Information from the National Library of Medicine |
| Health information from the National Library of Medicine. Easy access to Medline and Health topics, medical dictionaries, directories and publications. |
| medlineplus.gov |
|
| Medicine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Medicine is a branch of health science and the sector of public life ... The practice of medicine combines both science as the evidence base and art in the ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Journal Home - Nature Medicine |
| Nature Medicine has a vacancy for a Locum Assistant Editor for six months. The position involves working in all aspects of the editorial process, ... |
| www.nature.com |
|
| The New England Journal of Medicine: Research & Review Articles on ... |
| The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a weekly general medical journal that publishes new medical research findings, review articles, and editorial ... |
| content.nejm.org |
|
| eMedicine Clinical Knowledge Base |
| eMedicine features up-to-date, searchable, peer-reviewed medical journals, online physician reference textbooks, and a full-text article database in 62 ... |
| www.emedicine.com |
|
| Open Directory - Health: Medicine |
| the entire directory, only in Health/Medicine. Top: Health: Medicine (11429). Description · Medical Specialties (4888); Surgery (2265) ... |
| dmoz.org |
|
| the www virtual library biosciences medicine |
| www.ohsu.edu/cliniweb/wwwvl/ - Similar pages |
|
|
| Medicine - home |
| Bimonthly journal covering the latest results in clinical investigation relevant to hospital and office practice. |
| www.md-journal.com |
|
| Institute of Medicine |
| The Institute of Medicine serves as adviser to the nation to improve health. |
| www.iom.edu |
|
| ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News |
| Medical Research News. Health news on everything from cancer to nutrition. Full-text, images, updated daily. |
| www.sciencedaily.com |
|
| Google Directory - Health > Medicine |
| Search only in Medicine Search the Web. Medicine. Health > Medicine, Go to Directory Home. Categories. Alternative Medicine (6308) Basic Sciences (66) ... |
| www.google.com |
|
| the world wide web virtual library biosciences medicine |
| www.mcb.harvard.edu/biopages/medicine.html - Similar pages |
|
|
| PLoS Medicine - A Peer-Reviewed Open-Access Journal |
| PLoS Medicine is a peer-reviewed, international, open-access journal published ... Every issue of PLoS Medicine contains a selection of readers' responses. ... |
| medicine.plosjournals.org |
|
| Medicine On-Line - Medicine Online -The International Medical Journal |
| Medicine Online - independent and peer reviewed journal published by Priory Medical Journals - priory.com. |
| www.priory.com |
|
| Entrez PubMed |
| PubMed is a service of the US National Library of Medicine that includes over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for ... |
| www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |
|
| Stanford University School of Medicine |
| Home Page of the Stanford University School of Medicine. |
| med.stanford.edu |
|
| Medicine OnLine |
| Meds.com offers medical information and education on cancer (lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, leukemia) and HIV / AIDS for patients, ... |
| www.meds.com |
|
|