How over-reporting on ultrasound scans harms infertile patients
Vaginal ultrasound is an extremely useful tool when evaluating an infertile woman, but it often bothers me because there are some sonographers who over interpret the scan images. Now, I like the fact that they are careful and systematic, and document everything they see by taking lots of images. However, I hate the fact that draw clinical conclusions based on the black and white images they see on the screen - and they shouldn't be doing this.Their reports will say things like, " There are adhesions between the ovary and the uterus"; " There is a 3 cm endometriotic cyst"; the fallopian tubes are thickened."None o...
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - May 7, 2018 Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs
Why freezing all embryos is the IVF treatment of choice today
You can read the full text of the paper in Human Reproduction at https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/33/5/924/4925329It's chock full of medical jargon, but the message is quite clear !AbstractSTUDY QUESTIONWhat is the chance of having a child following one complete IVF cycle for patients using a freeze-all strategy?SUMMARY ANSWERThe chance of having a child after the first complete IVF cycle was 50.74% with the freeze-all strategy.WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADYSeveral studies have reported on live birth rates (LBRs) based on only the fresh embryo transfer cycle or fresh and frozen –thawed embryo transfer cycles. Ho...
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - May 5, 2018 Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs
How IVF doctors create work for themselves !
A patient just sent me this emailI and my husband were trying to conceive for last 4 months but didn't get success. I went for normal fertility check up and was surprised to know that my AMH level was only 1.41. I was suggested to opt for IVF. Please suggest i should wait for normal conception or shall opt for IVF?Doctors seem to be happy to do IVF for anyone who walks into their clinic, and this kind of "treatment creep" leads to unnecessary overtreatment .While IVF is a great treatment, it should be restricted only to infertile couples who need it !For one thing, this couple is not even infertile. The definition of infer...
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - May 4, 2018 Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs
Would You Want To Know Whether You ’re At Risk For Alzheimer’s?
Do genetic tests help in preparing for potential future health issues or open Pandora’s box full of concerns, worries and hypochondriac thoughts? Would you want to know your genetic fate? Whether you are at risk for Alzheimer’s or a chronic disease 30 years in advance? Would you want to live with this kind of information? Would you take the BRCA test to find out that you are at risk for breast cancer? What would you do if you were? The Medical Futurist team contemplated situations requiring hard, life-altering decisions. What would you do?
Our genetic heritage carries secrets that are difficult to process
In Season 8 o...
Source: The Medical Futurist - April 28, 2018 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Bioethics Genomics alzheimer disease DNA dna testing doctor-patient doctor-patient relationship DTC future genetics Huntington's patient empowerment personal genomics Source Type: blogs
Eponymythology: Atraumatic Abdominal Ecchymosis
LITFL • Life in the Fast Lane Medical Blog LITFL • Life in the Fast Lane Medical Blog - Emergency medicine and critical care medical education blog
Overview
We review the original descriptions of 5 eponymous signs (n=6) associated with non-traumatic abdominal ecchymosis.
These commonly cited eponyms involving the abdominal wall and flanks (Grey Turner, Cullen and Stabler); scrotum (Bryant) and upper thigh (Fox) may be useful clues directing the examiner to consider potentially serious causes of abdominal pathology.
Cullen sign
Thomas Stephen Cullen (1869–1953) was a Canadian gynecologist
Non-traumatic peri-um...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - April 18, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Mike Cadogan Tags: Eponymythology Abdominal Ecchymosis Bryant sign Cullen sign fox sign Francis Edward Stabler George Grey Turner Grey Turner sign John Adrian Fox John Henry Bryant Stabler sign Thomas Stephen Cullen Source Type: blogs
Psychology Around the Net: April 14, 2018
Happy Saturday, sweet readers!
Did everyone survive yesterday? Or did you even realize it was Friday 13th?
Honestly, I didn’t remember until around noon yesterday. To quote the great Michael Scott, “I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.” In other words, I didn’t wake up and begin anxiously awaiting doom around every corner, but, once I did remember what day it was…I kept an eye open. It’s only human nature.
Anyway, let’s get on with everything this week’s Psychology Around the Net has to offer which includes science-backed ways to boost creativity, how to m...
Source: World of Psychology - April 14, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Alicia Sparks Tags: Alzheimer's Bipolar Celebrities Children and Teens College Creativity Disorders Happiness Phobia Psychology Around the Net Research Sleep Women's Issues Alzheimer's disease Bipolar Disorder brain Creative Thinking Embarra Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, April 9th 2018
This studycounters that notion, and the findings may suggest that many senior citizens remain more cognitively and emotionally intact than commonly believed.
"We found that older people have similar ability to make thousands of hippocampal new neurons from progenitor cells as younger people do. We also found equivalent volumes of the hippocampus (a brain structure used for emotion and cognition) across ages. Nevertheless, older individuals had less vascularization and maybe less ability of new neurons to make connections. It is possible that ongoing hippocampal neurogenesis sustains human-specific cognitive function...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 8, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Making a Splash for Cancer Research
The post Making a Splash for Cancer Research appeared first on Johns Hopkins Nursing Magazine. (Source: Nursing Blogs at Johns Hopkins University)
Source: Nursing Blogs at Johns Hopkins University - April 5, 2018 Category: Nursing Authors: Editor Tags: Hopkins Nurse Spring 2018 cancer children endometrial fundraiser oncology ovarian pancreatic research Swim Across America swimming Source Type: blogs
A Marker for Cancer Stem Cells that Might Also Lead to a Cell-Killing Treatment
At least some forms of cancers are generated and supported by a small population of cancer stem cells, a malfunctioning, rapidly growing mirror of the healthy tissue environment in which large number of somatic cells are supported by a small number of stem cells. It is the presence of these cancer stem cells that makes it challenging to permanently clear cancer from a patient - if only a few such cells survive, the cancer will return, and the present generation of cancer treatments cannot reliably remove 100% of the targeted cells. Looking on the bright side, if a method of selectively targeting and destroying cancer stem ...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 5, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Laparoscopy and IVF - before, after or never ?
Before referring a patient for IVF to an IVF clinic, many gynecologists will insist on doing a laparoscopy . They justify this using all kinds of pretexts. saying" We will get a chance to check your pelvis, so we can clip your tubes, if needed, or burn any endometriosis." Their justification is that doing this will improve the patient's chance of getting pregnant with IVF. This is false, but poor patients don't know any better. They feel that if they are going to spend so much money on IVF, they might as well spend a little bit more on the laparoscopy, if this will improve their IVF success rate !Removing small fibroids an...
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - April 5, 2018 Category: Reproduction Medicine Tags: diagnostic laparoscopy Endoscopy ivf operative laparoscopy Source Type: blogs
Cellular Footprints: Tracing How Cells Move
An engineered cell (green) in a fruit fly follicle (red), or egg case, leaves a trail of fluorescent material as it moves across a fruit fly egg chamber, allowing scientists to trace its path and measure how long it took to complete its journey. Credit: David Bilder, University of California, Berkeley.
Cells are the basis of the living world. Our cells make up the tissues and organs of our bodies. Bacteria are also cells, living sometimes alone and sometimes in groups called biofilms. We think of cells mostly as staying in one spot, quietly doing their work. But in many situations, cells move, often very quickly. For exam...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - April 4, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Kathryn Calkins Tags: Cell Biology Bacteria Biofilms Cells Cellular Imaging Source Type: blogs
Diagnosing your cancer is my cross to bear
Today, you came to me with a chief complaint: right breast lump.
You told me you’ve only been aware of it for the last three weeks. Your eyes told me your terror of not realizing it was there sooner.
You told me there wasn’t a history of any breast, endometrial or ovarian cancer in your family. But you held back that you knew there isn’t always a family history.
You told me you had a normal mammogram three years ago. But you left out that part about the guilt of not having done your self-monthly breast exam or your regular mammograms.
You asked me to look at a mole, pointing to the back of your neck. The tremble of y...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 30, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/millennial-doctor" rel="tag" > Millennial Doctor, MD < /a > Tags: Physician Oncology/Hematology Source Type: blogs
The Biology Behind the Fertility Clinic Meltdown
*This blog was first published at DNA Science Blog at Public Library of Science*
The spindle apparatus is among the most elegant structures in a cell, quickly self-assembling from microtubules and grabbing and aligning chromosomes so that equal sets separate into the two daughter cells that result from a division. But can spindles in cells held at the brink of division in the suspended animation of the deep freeze at a fertility clinic survive being ripped from their slumber off-protocol, as happened the weekend of March 4 at the Pacific Fertility Clinic in San Francisco and University Hospitals Fe...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - March 28, 2018 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Bioethics Today Tags: Health Care Fertility syndicated Source Type: blogs
The problem of misunderstanding 23andMe genetic test results
Home delivery for everything from fresh produce to custom-selected clothing has become a way of life for many Americans. While most home-delivery conveniences are generally changing our lives for the better — giving us more time and choices — at-home genetics kits that reveal information about the risk of developing certain cancers represent a risky step in our on-demand culture.
The FDA recently gave 23andMe the green light to sell the first direct-to-consumer tests for mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which are linked to serious risks of developing cancer. All a buyer has to do is ship a saliva sample to t...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 28, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/susan-domchek" rel="tag" > Susan Domchek, MD < /a > Tags: Conditions Genetics Oncology/Hematology Source Type: blogs
The 7 steps of IVF
IVF seems to be an extremely complicated procedure, and sometimes IVF doctors take perverse pleasure in mystifying it, because they like showing off their expertise. This is why IVF patients are often completely confused about what to expect. Actually , it's very straightforward and logical, and if you understand this simple framework , you will be able to make sure your doctor's doing the right stuff for you. Remember that all we are doing in an IVF cycle is replicating what should have happened normally in the fallopian tubes - the only difference is that we are doing this in the test tube ! 1. First is t...
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - March 26, 2018 Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs
