List of All Articles with Tag 'c'

Infertility is a problem that afflicts more than a billion people across the world, which is why treatments such as IVF are so important. The procedure (in vitro fertilisation, to use it’s full name) involves the extraction of an egg from the woman's ovaries to be fertilised with sperm in a laboratory and returned to the woman’s womb. The goal is that the resulting embryo will then grow and develop into a foetus, blessing the parent or parents with a baby. However, success rates for IVF – as in, the percentage of treatments that result in a live birth – remain somewhat unencouraging: 32 per cent for women aged under 35; 25 per cent for women aged 35 to 37, with the numbers continuing to drop the older you get, according to the NHS. Nevertheless, a major new study has revealed a striking new finding which could help boost the hopes of countless aspiring mums and dads across the world. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter After analysing 3,657 frozen embryos over a period of eight years, researchers in Western Australia found that IVF was much more likely to work when eggs had been harvested in the summer. The team clarified that it didn’t seem to matter when the embryos were transferred to the mother’s womb, just when the eggs were collected. Indeed, the likelihood of babies being born when the eggs had been retrieved in the summer was 30 per cent higher than when they had been retrieved in the autumn, according to the scientists. The team also found that the temperature on the day of egg collection didn’t seem to have an impact on success rates, but the number of sunny hours did. Of the embryos they tested, those harvested on days that had the most sunshine were 28 per cent more likely to result in a live birth compared to the darkest and most overcast days. “Our study suggests that the best conditions for live births appear to be associated with summer and increased sunshine hours on the day of egg retrieval,” the study’s lead, Dr Sebastian Leathersich, of Perth’s King Edward Memorial Hospital, said about the paper, which was published in the journal Human Reproduction. Still, he noted: “There are many factors that influence fertility treatment success, age being among the most important. “However, this study adds further weight to the importance of environmental factors and their influence on egg quality and embryonic development." He further explained: “We effectively separated the conditions at the time of egg collection from the conditions at the time of transfer, demonstrating that environmental factors when the eggs are developing are as, if not more, important than environmental factors during implantation and early pregnancy.” The expert obstetrician and gynaecologist added: “Optimising factors such as avoiding smoking, alcohol and other toxins and maintaining healthy activity levels and weight should be paramount. However, clinicians and patients could also consider external factors such as environmental conditions.” Despite Dr Leathersich and his colleagues concluding that the temperature on the day of egg collection had little bearing on the success of the process, they also found that the temperature on the day of embryo implantation did make a difference. The chances of a live birth rate decreased by 18 per cent when the embryos were transferred on the hottest days (when average temperatures measured between 14.5C and 27.8C) compared to the coolest days (0.1C to 9.8C), and there was a small increase in miscarriage rates, from 5.5 per cent to 7.6. The finding that miscarriage rates were highest when embryo transfer took place on the hottest days is consistent with other studies showing higher rates of miscarriage in the summer months. “This suggests that the negative effects of high temperature are more likely related to early pregnancy rather than egg development,” Dr Leathersich concluded. When it comes to the disparity in success rates between eggs retrieved in summer and autumn, he and his team pointed out that melatonin levels could be at play. Differences in lifestyles between the winter and summer months may also play a role, he and his colleagues acknowledged. "It is possible that there are differences in activity, diet, and lifestyle in different seasons which could underlie the observed differences in live birth rates, though such data were not collected in this study," they wrote. "It is also possible that other environmental factors, including pollutants, may impact clinical outcomes." Whilst the study’s findings are compelling, Dr Leathersich and his team admitted that it did have its limitations. The research was done in hindsight, using eggs that had been frozen, then thawed, so it could not draw watertight conclusions. “Ideally, these findings should be replicated in other sites with different conditions and different treatment protocols to confirm the findings,” Dr Leathersich said. “It would also be interesting to look at the impact of season and environmental factors on sperm parameters, as this could have contributed to our observations.” He added: “We are now planning to analyse this same group of patients using air quality data, as there may be seasonal changes in exposure to harmful pollutants which could negatively affect reproductive outcomes. “Finally, given the huge increase in so-called 'social egg freezing' for fertility preservation and the fact that this group generally have flexibility about when they choose to undergo treatment, it would be very interesting to see if these observations hold true with frozen eggs that are thawed and fertilised years later. “Any improved outcomes in this group could have big impacts for women making decisions about their future fertility, but the long-term follow-up required means it is likely to be some time before we can draw any conclusions for this population.” Have your say in our news democracy. 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Mexican-made Modelo Especial is the top-selling beer in the United States for the second straight month, once again snatching the crown from Bud Light.

After a great meal, it can be a trial to stagger out of the restaurant and back to your digs for the night. Enter these 20 hotels around the world, each of which is home to a Michelin-starred restaurant, for a sweet stay -- in every sense.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 10, 2023--

Secure 2.0 gave people several new options for workplace retirement accounts, but it forces higher-income savers to use their plans’ Roth option for catch-up contributions

Boxer and rapper KSI and YouTuber-turned-WWE-star Logan Paul sure have hit the jackpot with their drinks company Prime, to the extent it’s sold for ridiculous prices, made one shop in Wakefield go viral, and even been reviewed by foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay. The collaboration between Paul and KSI (real name Olajide “JJ” Olatunji) was announced back in January last year, with the pair just recently touring Munich, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Oslo to promote the drink. Prime has even become the drinks partner for both Arsenal and Barcelona football clubs. However, such success has also caught the attention of legislators, with one US senator, Democrat Chuck Schumer, calling for the company to be investigated by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). In a letter to the regulator, Mr Schumer wrote: “A simple search on social media for Prime will generate an eye-popping amount of sponsored content, which is advertising. “This content and all the claims made should be investigated, along with the ingredients and the caffeine content in the Prime energy drink.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter While Prime Hydration is caffeine-free, the Prime Energy brand contains 200mg of caffeine per 12 ounces, which is about the same as six cans of Coca-Cola or almost two Red Bulls. On Twitter, Mr Schumer went further and claimed the drink contains so much of the stimulant that it “could endanger kids’ health”, but is being “marketed to kids” anyway. “Parents and paediatricians are worried. The FDA must investigate Prime for its absurd caffeine content and its marketing targeting kids on social media,” he wrote. Representatives for Prime, meanwhile, argue the product is clearly labelled as “not recommended for children under 18”. Although the FDA is yet to announce an investigation into the drinks brand, and therefore it’s not yet at risk of being banned in the US, how much money would KSI and Logan Paul stand to lose if such a decision was ever taken? Some insight into just how popular the brand is was given by Paul during an interview on the Australian radio show The Kyle and Jackie O Show in February, in which he said they had garnered “$250m in retail sales [and] $110m gross internally”. “In January of this year, we did $45m,” he added. But of course, Olatunji and Paul won’t see all of that money, with Prime being part of the Congo Brands company and the YouTuber duo reportedly having a combined share of 20 per cent in the brand. Although we don't have the exact estimations, but we imagine the answer to the big question is that the pair would certainly lose a lot of money if they were blocked from selling in a market as big as America. That’s yet to happen, though, and so instead, Prime looks to be getting more and more popular… Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Constellation Brands' Modelo Especial was the top-selling beer brand in the United States for a second consecutive month

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 10, 2023--

Consumer prices in Egypt soared at a record pace, a reflection of pressures on food costs after the

MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 10, 2023--

CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 10, 2023--

Cava Group Inc.’s stock has surged since it started life as a listed company last month, and analysts